To Lose Control
by DarkHououmon
Summary: "I tried to make them leave... But they kept trying to stop me... They wouldn't keep quiet... Th-They left me no choice.. Please...don't be mad at me..."
1. Desperation

Author's Note: This was going to be the final part in the Terry's Revenge series. But this ended up becoming pretty long, so I decided to just post this up and then save the final part for later.

sss

Two months.

It had been two long months. Or could it have been longer? It was so hard to tell...

But regardless, it had been way too long. So much time wasted waiting by the phone... So much time wasted asking people around... So much time wasted going down to that damn police station, only to get the same answer over and over again.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we haven't found anything yet."

The same old story, over and over again. Mrs. Tabootie found herself gritting her teeth tightly, seeing through the spaces. Those fucking cops... Couldn't they do anything right? She had been waiting so long for any word about her missing son, and not one of them had figured out a thing about it. Not one of them found any clues, any sign that might lead them to where he is.

And when they suggested that he might be dead... She recalled how she wanted to strike them so badly. She did manage to keep herself from doing that, but man, it was so hard... She refused to believe that her son was dead. She refused to believe that he'd go down so easily. He was still alive out there somewhere. She knew this to be a fact.

He just had to be alive... He just had to...

Then, as she stood there, her fists clenched tightly, the array of emotions that swirled inside of her had begun to take their toll on her mind. She could feel tears welling up inside of her eyes and she could not stop them from streaming down her cheeks. She released a few small sniffles as the salty fluid dripped down from her face and onto the ground. She could feel herself suddenly losing strength and she dropped down onto one knee.

This hadn't been the first time she had done this. She could not begin to count the times that she had raged on inside of her mind, trying to shift the blame somewhere. In the end, she would remember that she, too, had some blame for it. She was the one who hadn't went with her son. Perhaps if she had...

But would it have changed anything? Joe had been trying to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that no one could have seen this coming. She tried to take comfort in that to ease her mind. But...it was just no use. She still could not stop herself from thinking of what could have been and how things could have happened differently.

If only she had...

She shut her eyes tightly, her shoulders shaking as she began to try. She whispered her silent apologies to her son over and over again. She knew that he could not hear them, but she felt better doing this. Perhaps, somehow, she could will him to hear it, and he would keep moving forward to find them, wherever he might be. And then everything would go back to normal and...

She let out a trembling sigh. She had been hoping for that off and on, but there was absolutely no change. Nothing to indicate that things were going to get better. Nothing to say that something positive was about to happen. All she could sense ahead of her was more harsh times.

Heh, since when was that any different from the norm anyway? She had gotten used to that at this point. She was almost feeling...numb to the whole thing.

And that terrified her. She did not want to think of what could happen if she stopped caring. She fought against her mind's urge to numb her. She tried to prevent herself from moving too forward. After all, what if they do find him? What if she turned around and her husband was there, coming in with good news?

As if expecting a change already, she found herself looking over her shoulder. She flinched when she saw nothing. Just the open door, the one that she pushed open as she had entered her son's room. Sighing softly, she moved foward, delving deeper into Rudy's bedroom.

It had become hard to enter here since his disappearance. A part of her wanted her to leave, wanted to prevent that nothing bad was happening, to act as if this was just some kind of dream. And yet here she was, silently walking further into the now empty room, devoid of any life except for herself. She hugged her arms to herself as she looked around, her eyes darting about left and right. The fact that it still looked like Rudy's room stung her horribly.

And there was his chalkboard. She reached over towards it and placed her hand against its rim. She bit her lip, imagining her son standing there and drawing something and showing it off. She smiled a little before she ran her finger under her eye, catching her tears. She sniffled and tried to calm herself down. Not that this was all that possible.

Her poor son... Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he have to disappear? He had already suffered hardship after hardship. Why did this have to be added onto it all? The same stinging emotions she had felt when Rudy had to learn to adjust to the pacemaker came back, now intensified and swirling inside of her mind at a more rapid rate.

She gritted her teeth at this. She knew something had to be done soon. She could not just sit here and allow her son to just... She had no idea what was going on. She just knew she had to find him somehow. And if the police aren't helping...

...then she'd do it herself.

But where would she even begin to look? Where could she go in order to find any signs of her son? Even if she went back to the forest where they camped out, she might not see any signs that he was there.

But still...she had to try something, right? She couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She was his mother, for crying out loud. She had been there for him before. When he rode his first bike, when he had his first accident...

...when he had been shot by Ms. Bouffant...

The large woman's stomach churned at that memory, burning up internally. She clenched her teeth tightly and she struggled to get the image out of her mind. But it was impossible. It just lingered there for several moments, and she was treated to a highly detailed iamge in her head of Rudy's face when he was shot, and how he fell into the ground in a pool of his own blood.

That damned woman... It was all her fault that Rudy had to wear a pacemaker. She wished that she had strangled her when she had the chance. Or at least do something to leave a permanent mark.

She forced herself to exhale deeply, trying her best to purge her mind of those thoughts. At least she could rest assured knowing that Ms. Bouffant was locked away in jail, where she could never hurt anyone again. Especially not her little boy.

Then she recalled, with a twisting gut, that Terry had escaped jail. She had almost forgotten about that, and she felt angry with herself that she did. She realized what this could mean, but... Would Terry even try something like that again? Would she...

"Hey dear! Dinner's ready!"

Mrs. Tabootie swiveled her head in the direction of her husband's voice. He had volunteered to make dinner when it became apparent that she was too emotional right now to think of cooking. She gave a small smile at this. Usually she was a bit annoyed by his interruptions. But today, it was welcomed.

She took one more glance at the chalkboard, feeling a sting in her stomach. Then she gave a small smile. She would find her son sooner or later. She just knew she would.

Without another thought, she turned her head and she proceeded out of the room.

sss

Snap couldn't stop himself from pacing back and forth, his arms folded behind his back. He didn't care if this got him looks from the other zoners. He needed to keep walking. He had too much energy built up inside of him. If he stopped now, he might...

"Snap... This isn't helping." Rapsheeba spoke up. "You need to try to relax. I'm sure that..."

Snap shot her a glare. "You're sure that what? Penny will come in and tell me that everything is fine? That they finally found Rudy?" Rapsheeba flinched at this before taking a step back. Snap narrowed his eyes further. "I bet you that she will come in and tell me that they still haven't found him." He shook his head slowly. "What makes you think that today will be any different?"

Rapsheeba hesitated, remaining where she stood for several moments. This did cause Snap to feel some level of guilt, but he just could not express it. Not when he had so much going on in his mind. So many thoughts... So many things to worry about...

His eyes widened when he felt a set of arms move aroud his body. He could feel the warmth of Rapsheeba's body coat over him as she pulled him into a tight embrace. He gritted his teeth and attempted to struggle, only to force himself to settle down after a few moments. He shut his eyes tightly as he leaned against her, silently seeking out her support. He could feel her immediately start rubbing his back, an attempt to help him feel better.

"I know how you must feel. We are all worried about him." Rapsheeba's voice was weak and tinged with sadness. "We all wish for him to be okay. But...you can't beat yourself up like this. You can't act this way. You're pushing us away, Snap. We want to help you..."

Snap forced a small sigh to exit out of his mouth. "I know I was really hard on you guys lately. I-I didn't mean to..."

"Of course not. We don't blame you. Just please...try to stay with us, okay? We are your friends. We want what is best for you." Rapsheeba whispered as she pulled him close, pressing her chin against the top of his head.

Snap furrowed his eyes at this. "Should I just forget about Rudy, then?"

A sharp gasp eminated from Rapsheeba's mouth. "No, of course not! We just don't want you tearing yourself up emotionally over this. We all need to be strong. I'm sure someone will find Rudy eventually."

Sap felt his heart sting at that word. Eventually... Yeah, they would find him all right. In some gutter in the middle of fucking nowhere with a knife to his heart... Okay that was pretty dark and grim, and he knew that the possibility of that may not be as high as he'd think. Still, the fact that it was a probable scenario still weighed heavily on his mind. He could feel tears burning against his eyes, despite his efforts to control them.

It had been too long, way too long, since he had last seen his best friend, his creator. How long? He would imagine at least two months. Regardless, it was just...so long since he had first heard the news of Rudy's disappearance. He felt his heart sting as he remembered that wretched memory.

And in the weeks that followed, Penny could only bring more and more bad news. It was usually the same. The police never found him. As Penny kep telling him this over and over, it really weighed down on his mind, putting pressure upon his shoulders. It had recently began to take its toll on him and he recalled all the times that he clutched his chest as he tried to control his emotions. The other zoners helped in any way that they could, but it didn't always work.

Especially lately.

"Please let me go..." Snap spoke through gritted teeth. He wriggled himself away from Rapsheeba. "I...I need to be alone..."

Rapsheeba stared at him sympathetically. "Are you sure, Snap?" She reached her hand out towards him. "I don't mind keeping you company if you..."

Snap raised his hand up, stopping her in her tracks. "No, I'll be fine on my own. Really. I'll... I'll be fine..." He lowered his head a little, emotions swirling around in his mind. "I will be okay.."

Rapsheeba curled her fingers inward and pulled her hand back. She stared at Snap for several moments. She bit her lip, clearly looking reluctant to leave him. She soon gave a small sigh as she turned herself to the side. "Very well, Snap. I'll leave you bee." She began to walk away. She soon paused and she looked over her shoulder. "But...call me if you need anything, okay?"

Snap nodded his head silently. He watched as Rapsheeba left the apartment building, leaving him all alone.

Well except for the other zoners, his neighbors, who simply stared at him. Most of them didn't bother asking him if there was any word on Rudy. They were only curious about his increased aggressive attitude, a side effect of the tension and stress that he's had to deal with.

He paid these zoners no mind as he made his way up into his bedroom. It was not his time to sleep, but he felt so emotionally drained right now. If Penny were to try to relay him any messages today, he trusted that Rapsheeba or Blocky would take care of that for him. He just...didn't think he could take hearing more bad news. Not today.

Snap had strong hunch that Terry Bouffant was behind this whole thing. There was just nothing else that made sense. He recalled how badly she wanted to control him, how badly she wanted to expose ChalkZone, and how she had shot him in the chest with a gun during court.

His blood heated up at that memory. Rudy didn't deserve that. He hadn't done anything to deserve that, and yet Terry still went out of her way to harm him. A little child... She had shot an innocent little child... He was glad when she had been locked away. That bitch deserved it after what she had done to his best friend.

And yet something told him that it wasn't over yet. That Terry was not yet finished. He couldn't help but feel as though she had escaped somehow. Penny hadn't mentioned if this was the case or not. But he knew...somehow, she had gotten out. And she was the reason Rudy was missing. She had taken him or even...

...or even killed him...

Snap shuddered at that thought. He didn't want to think that it was possible. He didn't want to accept that Rudy was...dead...

But he knew how desperate Terry had been at the court. He knew that she hated Rudy so much that she'd be willing to take him down by whatever means necessary. He knew that she would not hesitate if given the chance for revenge. They all knew how she was. They all knew what she was willing to do in order to get what she wanted.

But for now, the best thing for him to do was get some rest. A little bit of sleep would help him clear his mind. And if Penny came... Well even if she did bring only more bad news, at least he could rest assured that she was still okay.

And sooner or later, they would find Rudy. He wanted to believe that they would. And if Terry really was behind it, he would see to it that she paid for it. He would not let her get away with what she had done. A part of him almost hoped that Terry was involved just so that he could get back at her. He still had something to give her to 'thank' her for how she had blown his friend's heart apart.

Struggling to push those thoughts aside for now, Snap climbed up into his bed. He rested against the sort comfortableness of the blanket before laying down on his side. He tugged the blanket and moved it over his body. He snuggled up in his bed and forced himself to close his eyes, his heavy lids almost burning as they moved over his visual orbs. He took in a deep breath and he sighed.

Tomorrow is another day.

sss

"They still haven't found anything yet. I'm sorry."

The same old news. Penny couldn't really feel all that surprised anymore. While before, she would have reacted with some sense of numbness, at this point, she had gotten so used to this answer that she couldn't even feel her body responding. It was just the same old, same old to her. As if things there completely normal.

She just said there, numbed up, her heart still beating as normal, only with a slight weight added onto it. She stared down at her plate with a level of disinterest. Even if her stomach growled, she could not feel hungry. Kind of a strange paradox, eh? She would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious.

She wondered how Snap would feel once she told him the so-called 'news'. He would probably just shut down like before. He had been responding worse each time she told him. And it got harder for her to tell him as well. She began to wonder if she should just stop telling him. Not like it was going to change anything anyway. Rudy was missing,a nd whether or not she says the police hadn't found anything yet or not...Snap would still be up to date on the situation.

Though mostly numb, Penny did still feel, every so often, a brief chill rushing up through her body. She flinched at this, especially when it surged through her spine, sending jolts to her nerves everywhere. These weren't as bad as she made them sound, but at the same time, they were enough to make her freeze. In addition, her heart would twist a little. Very brief and only lasting a split second. Sometimes she doesn't even register that it happened.

What were they going to do at this point? Well, what could they do? There was not really a lot of options other than just sit here and wait for some good news. She almost scoffed at that. It seemed like good news was no longer a possibility...

She shut her eyes and turned her head away for a moment. Her mind flashed brief images of Rudy, and she felt herself shiver as she mentally watched him scream and struggle about, begging for someone to come and save him. Then he would look diredctly at her, causing her to jolt back and take in a sharp breath of hair. She breathed in and out quickly and it took her a few moments to settle down.

She looked upon the plate of food again. Just like before, it did not look very appetizing. She just wasn't really in the mood to eat. She fiddled around with her fork a little bit, nudging the peas around. But she made no attempt to eat what was on her plate.

"Penita, I wish you would eat." She could hear her mother say. "You have barely eaten the past couple of days. That's not good for you."

Penny flinched at this. She knew that her mother was right. She had been eating poorly. She just couldn't help it. How could she eat when her best friend was out there somewhere, alone, hurt, possibly dying..? A part of her wanted to eat; she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Besides, it's only been about five days. She would be fine without much food for a little while longer, right? She wanted to wait to hear some good news. She wanted to know that Rudy was safe and sound. Then she would eat.

Just a little while longer...

Her mother, however, was not going to have it. She could hear her getting up from her seat and heading over in her direction. Penny lowered her head, attempting to avert eye contact. She was aware of her mom's shadow over her. Even then, she still did not look up at her. She could soon feel her mom's hands on her face and force her head to be tilted up.

Then her eyes got in contact with her mother's. Penny could feel her body stiffening as she saw an upclose view of her mother's eyes. They looked at one another for several moments, silent messages sending back and forth between each other. It took Penny a few seconds to notice the glistening in her mother's eyes. She looked really worried for her. But all Penny could do was just grit her teeth and try to look away.

This prompted her mother to tighten her grip on her. "Please... Just eat, Penny. Please... I can't stand to see you like this." She began to gently caress her daughter's cheek a little, her right hand going up and down. "I know you are worried about Rudy. We all are. But you are not going to do anyone any favors if you just sit here and not eat anything. So please.. Eat."

Penny growled softly and made another jerk to get away. She tensed up her neck muscles and moved about from one side to the other. After a few seconds, she managed to free herself with a strong jerk to one side. She leaned away from her mother and attempted to put a little distance between the two of them. "I'm fine, mom..."

"No, don't give me that." Her mother cut her off before she could finish. "You have been telling me that one too many times. I am not going to take no for an answer." The woman gripped her shoulders tightly, to the point where it almost caused a little bit of pain. "Now please.. Just eat. I'm telling you this because I love you. Eat your meal. I'll let you leave if you just...eat."

Penny gritted her teeth in response to this. She wasn't sure if she could make herself eat. And the food had gotten pretty chilly at this point. Would she even want it anymore? Part of her mind just wanted to tell her mom to leave her the fuck alone.

But...that wouldn't solve anything, would it? And her mom had every right to worry about her. She couldn't keep starving herself like this. If something happened to her and her mom grieved, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. And what of Snap? Who was going to bring him the good news that Rudy was found, at some point in the hopefully near future, if she was not around to tell him?

Penny loosened herself, giving into her mother's embrace. Loose, with no more tension, Penny just leaned against her mother. She could feel tears burning against the back of her eyes. She released a series of low himpers, her lip quivering slightly. The emotion that she had been partially lacking in had come back strong in a vengeance.

"I'm so sorry, mama... I really am... I just.. I'm just so..." Penny shut her eyes. She could feel a few tears trickling down her face. "I miss him so much..."

"I know, Penita... I know..." Her mother embraced her firmly. She ran her hand up and down her back, whispering a few soft, comforting words to her. "I'm sure they will find him soon. Now please..try to chin up." Her mother pulled back and gently cupped her chin. "You wouldn't want to have Rudy come back and see you like this, would you?"

Penny shook her head slowly. "N-No..."

Her mother smiled at this. She leaned in towards her and pressed a quick kiss against her forehead. She then stroked her cheek gently and said softly, "Please try to eat some of your food. I'll be happy if you eat at least half." She gave a pause, and there was a flash of something more solemn on her face. "We'll go down to the police station again if you want. Who knows?" She smiled. "Maybe something's changed already."

Penny could tell that her mom was just trying to comfort her. She could see how she was really feeling. Her eyes gave it away instantly. Her mom had doubts that anything changed this fast. She just wanted to try to cheer her up by trying again. Well, she could not blame her mother for trying anyway.

With a quick nod, Penny looked back down at her food. She smacked her lips a little bit. The smell of the food invaded her nostrils. She had to admit, it didn't smell all that bad. And she was a little hungry, even if she was reluctant to eat anything. She had to at least try to make herself eat something. Surely if she took one bite, the rest would follow suit...

And sure enough it did. Slowly but surely, Penny began to eat her food. She too smell, tentative bites at first. She shuddered at how cold the food was at this point. Once she managed to push that aside, however, it became easier to eat faster and faster. She had almost forgotten how hungry she was.

As she continued to eat, her thoughts began to drift. She once more began to wonder just what kind of situation Rudy was in. It had to be awful if he was gone for this long with no attempt of contact. The first thing that came across her mind, that caused her to nearly freeze and choke on her food, was the idea of his heart having some more damage done to it.

Rudy's heart was already in poor condition thanks to what Terry Bouffant had done to him. Penny could feel her mind burn in hatred at the memory of that wretched woman. She would never get that awful image out of her head, of how she shot Rudy in cold blood...

It was a miracle that Rudy survived at all. But he unfortunately never recovered completely. And now he was stuck with a pacemaker and a reduced physical life. They just couldn't chance him getting his heart too worked up; who knows what would happen? And it was for this reason that she was a little iffy about the camping trip. But she thought that, since he was not alone, it would be fine. But then...

She tried not to let herself get too locked up in that. At least the police were trying to find him, and Terry was not that likely to find him first. If the police hadn't yet found him, there was little chance that she did. And besides, after the trouble she had gotten into, would Terry really take that chance?

...then again, she had before...

Penny shook the thought out of her head. She had wanted to maintain more positive about the situation. Getting worked up for the chance that Terry had Rudy was not going to help, especially if it wasn't that likely of a scenario. Rudy probably just got lost somewhere in the woods. The police just need to try harder to find him.

But then, it wasn't really that hard to believe that Terry would take him again. She had a personal vendetta against him. If she was willing to shoot him, then what more was she willing to do to him? She shuddered to think about it.

She resumed eating her food. A lot slower than before, but still steadily, at a constant rate. She chewed her food slowly and deliberately, each swallow feeling like it took an extra effort. She could feel it go down into her stomach like a rock falling into a lake. She didn't stop eating her food and drinking her drink, hoping that, if she kept this up, she would be able to calm her nerves.

But she knew that she wouldn't be able to rest until they found Rudy. She would not be able to relax until she was able to rest assured that he was back home where he belonged. For now, all she could do was just sit here and pray that something good will come. And she hoped that Terry was not involved with Rudy's capture. If she was... She tried hard not to think about it and she forced herself to focus on eating.

sss

Things were rather quiet as the two friends sat next to each other. They leaned up against the bench and looked up at the sky. Neverchanging, never moving. And yet they found themselves staring as though the sky was going to deliver to them some kind of good news.

Yeah, like that was going to happen. They both knew that it was pointless excepting something as stupid as that. No matter how long they did this, nothing was going to change. Slowly, the two of them lowered their heads and stared at the ground.

Rapsheeba wished that there was something that she could say or do to cheer up Blocky. The poor guy hadn't really been feeling himself since Rudy disappeared. Not that she could blame him. Blocky cared so much for the boy, just like Snap and her and so many other zoners. To think that he could really be gone... Well, that was not something that any of them wanted to think about too much.

Rapsheeba tried her best to be more positive. She tried to convince herself that, so long as she remained positive, something good will come out of this. One day, they would find Rudy and things would be fine. They just had to be...

And yet, with how much time had been passing with no change, she really began to worry. She could feel herself starting to lose hope, despite her efforts to remain more vigilant. She licked her lips slowly as she tried to keep her mind focused on more optimistic thoughts. It was hard, however, especially with how her heart twisted and weighed down. She clenched her teeth and seethed through it. Wasn't anything right going to happen soon?

She looked over at Blocky. The rectangular zoner was hunched over, his flat body stretching downward in an arch. He fumbled with his fingers a little bit, slipping over one another. His eyes were part way open and quite dull. He hardly spoke, remaining eerily silent most of the time. The only sound that he'd made was an occasional shaky gasp or sigh.

Seeing Blocky like this hurt her so much. Rapsheeba missed the way that he laughed and giggled and tried to have fun. She wanted to see him play around with Snap again. She wanted to see him having a good time. She wanted to see him be himself. Not this...depressed state that he had himself trapped him for the past two months since Rudy vanished from the scene.

But she did not want to rush it. Blocky was grieving and she'd feel awful if she forced him out of that state just because it made her feel uncomfortable. She just hoped that he knew that she would be there for him in case he needed help. She would be more than happy to do whatever it took to help him out.

She let out a sigh and she looked up towards the sky. She wondered just what could have happened to Rudy. Snap believed that it had to do with that Ms. Bouffant person. The thought did terrify her, especially knowing what she had done to Rudy before. But she did not want to jump to that conclusion so quickly. Perhaps something else had happened instead. Perhaps it was... She was not able to think of anything.

Well despite their hardships at the moment, she knew that, sooner or later, something would change. Something positive would come out of this and they would be fine. It would be all right.

Blocky let out a trembling sigh. "Th-This is getting so much harder... Day in and day out.. Always the same. Always..." He shut his eyes and shivered. There were few noticeable tears that went down his face. "Wh-Why can't things just go back to the way they were...?"

Rapsheeba wished that she could provide him an answer. She wished that there was something that she could say to help him understand what was happening. But what could she say? She could only try to reassure him. But she could not tell him anything that wouldn't be a repeat of what she had already told him.

She breathed in and out slowly. There was only one thing she could think of to help him. And even then, it would only settle down his nerves for a little while. Still, even just a small bit of calmness would do him some good. He was not going to be able to function for long if he let the burning acid of stress hurt himself from the inside out.

Rapsheeba reached over and she gently touched Blocky's shoulder. She gently gripped it, squeezing it carefully. The zoner flinched as though he had been hurt. Then he forced himself to look up at her. "Come on..." She gave him the best smile that she could muster. "Why don't we go through a walk outside of town? The nice scenery may do you a little bit of good."

Blocky sniffled for a bit and then wiped his tears. "I-I suppose.."

Without saying much of a word, the two got up from the bench and began to make their way out of town. They did pass by a view zoners who asked about Rudy or asked about Blocky. The rectangular zoner did not bother talking to them. Rapsheeba gave them quick responses, trying not to be rude but at the same time trying not to spend too much time answering them. Some of the zoners were annoyed by this while others were more understanding.

At least it didn't take them too much longer to get outside of town. Not that they would fully escape zoners here. There were still some that roamed around these parts. They might end up getting caught in another question and answer situation. But for now, at least they could concentrate on the generally peaceful silence of this area. Standing side by side to each other, the two zoners began to make their way along the grassy hills.

Rapsheeba could already feel herself getting better. A nice walk outside of town was exactly what she needed to settle down her nerves. She sucked in a deep breath of fresh hair. And then she exhaled slowly, feeling her anxiety drift away with the breath. For a few moments, she had almost forgotten that she had been upset at all.

She turned down to her friend. Blocky still didn't seem all that happy. He might be a little calm, even if it was difficult to tell for certain. But still, it was quite obvious that he needed more help. The walk alone was not going to work. She would need to come up with something else instead. But what could she...

Up ahead, she could see what looked to be a pool of some kind. That was it. Maybe this could help Blocky feel better. He did like going into the water every so often, didn't he? Ever since he got lessons, he did enjoy the occasional swim or two. Yeah, this would be perfect to lift his spirits up a little. Grabbing onto his hand, she began to move in that direction quickly.

The pool itself wasn't that large. And it was rather simple in design. It looked as if it were designed by someone a bit younger than Rudy. At most, there was a diving board, though the pool itself was small and round. Still, it was a pool regardless and it was still large enough for her and him tos wim around in.

Thankfully there was no one else here. Either this place was brand new or whoever as here had decided to leave. Well that left more room for her and Blocky then. Giving the flat zoner a smile, she quickened her pace and soon they were on the small hill that contained the swimming pool.

At this point, Rapsheeba didn't really care if she didn't have a bathing suit on or not. That water did look really inviting and she could use a bit of anxiety relief herself. She released Blocky and she rushed over to where the pool was, her feet pounding against the ground. She soon reached the steps that took her up to the top of the diving board. She pressed her feet against it and, once she gained her balance, began to walk towards the front of the floppy board where she would jump from.

Looking over, she could see that Blocky hadn't yet attempted to jump in. Rapsheeba was about to say something, but when she caught the look in his eyes, she realized that something was off. Blocky didn't look upset; he looked scared. Nervous about something regarding this board. But why?

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Rapsheeba cupped a hand to her mouth, calling out to him. "Why don't you come over and jump into the water? I'm sure it's fine!"

Blocky fumbled his fingers together nervously, his teeth clenched slightly. "I-I don't know... I-It doesn't look like it's safe..." Blocky took a few steps closer to the pool. He grimaced as he stared down at the pool, as though there was some kind of monster waiting for him there. "Th-This seems too strange.. Wh-Why aren't there any other..."

Rapsheeba had a feeling she knew what was going on. Blocky was so shaken by Rudy's disappearance that he felt...vulnerable was the only word that she could use to describe it. He was put on edge and was extra cautious about things now. He felt as if he didn't have a choice. If even Rudy could disappear, who was to say that he couldn't?

But he was being a little silly right now. Even if he had a good reason to act so tense, so worked up, in the end, he was only hurting himself with this attitude. If he didn't lighten up soon, she could only imagine what that would do to his psyche. He needed to try to relax more. He was only going to cause more self damage if he kept this up. Not to mention, worry everyone else, especially her.

"It's all right, Blocky. Nothing is going to happen. Everything will be fine." Rapsheeba told him, trying to sound as comforting as possible. She gave him a gentle smile and reached out towards him a little. "You can trust me. Come on over.." She motioned with her hand. "It's only water. It's not going to hurt you."

Blocky bit his lip. He looked up at Rapsheeba for several moments before he looked back down at the pool. "It's not the water I'm worried about..."

Rapsheeba let out a soft sigh. It was clear that Blocky was not going to move from that spot. The only thing that would get him in there was if she showed him that there was nothing to be scared of. And to do that, she needed to jump into the water. Once she came out of the water and everything was fine, Blocky would forget about his fears and follow suit.

Or at least, she hoped that he would.

The singer zoner walked closer to the edge of the diving board. She tensed up her leg muscles and she began to wobble up and down. She ignored Blocky's pleas with her to stop. This was something that needed to be done, otherwise he was just going to keep himself locked up in fear forever. He needed some kind of wake up call or something, and if this was soemthing she had to do to help him, then so be it.

With one more tightening around her leg muscles, she lowered herself down and released herself in a single spring. She could feel her feet leaving the cold hardness of the diving board and up into the air. For a few seconds, she practically levitated in the air, as though she was flying. Then she arched her body forward and brought her hands out in front of her. She began to dive downward. She could feel the rush of air pushing up against her face. Then, a couple seconds later, she hit the water.

She could feel the cold water swirling all around her as she sunk a little into the pool. She opened her eyes and she looked all around. The water here was so crystal clear. The design of the bottom did look a bit odd, with all the jagged markings. But otherwise, it was just fine. Turning her head up, she swan her way towards the surface. It took her only a few moments before she broke out of the water's surface.

Coughing and spluttering, eventually Rapsheeba was able to smile in Blocky's direction. "It's fine, Blocky! You can come on in!" She raised her hand up and motioned to him to come over. "Everything is all right!"

Blocky moved closer to the water's edge. He clenched his teeth as he stared down at the waving water before him. He gritted his teeth and seethed. "I-I'm still not so sure about..."

Rapsheeba swam over towards the edge of the pool. She grabbed onto it with her hands, helping herself float here and relax as she attempted to comfort her friend. "It's okay. You're not going to..."

Suddenly, Rapsheeba could feel something rumbling all around her. She jerked herself back a little and she looked around. Something was very wrong here. Why was the ground shaking like this? Why was...

Then she realized, in horror, that the pool itself was starting to close. It moved at an increasingly rapid rate. Her eyes widened in horror and she tried to pull herself out. But despite her best efforts, despite Blocky trying to help her out, it was of no use. The water around her had turned into some kind of stucky substance and held her in place.

No.. No... This couldn't be happening... Rapsheeba didn't want to believe that something like this could really be taking place right now. She licked her lips rapidly and she tried once more to free herself, only to somehow make herself even more stuck.

Soon the edges of the 'pool' pressed up against her neck, submerging her body but giving her some form of air. She jerked herself from side to side as she tried to escape. But it was not working, and soon she wore herself out completely. She panted heavily as she leaned herself against one of the edges of the former pool. She could feel her muscles burning and aching as she looked around, trying to figure out just what was going on.

Blocky looked at her in horror, his mouth having dropped open and his body shaking. "S-See...? I-I told you something was wrong...!" He took a small step back. His wild expression looked all around as he tried to find whatever enemy had done this. "They must be around here somewhere... Waiting to strike..."

Though Rapsheeba did not like the idea of making Blocky head out on his own, she had to do something and fast. She did not want him to become stuck in here like she was. Even if she got caught, Blocky still had a chance at freedom, a chance to warn everyone. "Run! Get out of here now! Before they get you, too!"

Blocky hesitated. He bit his lip nervously as he stared down at her. He shook his head slowly. "I don't want to leave you..."

"I know, but you have to warn everyone about this! You're the only one who can!" Rapsheeba took a moment to try to struggle some more herself. But of course, she was making literally zero progress. She gave Blocky a comforting smile. "I-I will be okay. I promise. Just..get out of here... I don't want to see you get captured too."

"But... Rapsheeba..."

"Blocky, please. Just...go.. Please."

Blocky looked at her, his eyes widening in horror. He clearly didn't want to leave her, and kept staring at her pleadingly. He kept jerking himself forward and then back, struggling to figure out just what he should do. He licked his lips slowly, and his eyes almost seemed to get dull as he realized that there was nothing that he could do. Without saying a word, he turned himself around and he began to run off.

Rapsheeba watched as he left with a sad yet hopeful expression. At least he stood a chance to get away. At least there was some chance that someone could be warned about this, before something could...

She could feel a shadow being casted upon her. She stiffened up as she could practically feel it crawling straight through her soul. She didn't look dare move, not even breathe. She just remained still, shutting her eyes tightly.

Then she could hear the footsteps approaching. She could feel her body shaking and trembling as she whimpered softly. She did not want to appear weak or anything. Yet she could not even muster up an attempt to glare at her captor or even say anything. She just...never felt so terrified before. She flinched as she felt her blood turn into solid blocks of ice. Even breathing became rather painful.

"I am so sorry..."

Rapsheeba widened her eyes at this, stiffening up. Such a sickly sounding voice, and yet she recognized whom it was. She could feel her heart sink down lower. No...it was impossible. It couldn't be him... He wouldn't have...

"But they did promise that they would not hurt you. They only want to talk to you." The voice continued. "Please...don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be..."

Rapsheeba felt her body give a few shudders. She forced herself to look behind her. The Day Zone sun blocked some of his face, darkening it up. But she could still easily recognize the person that stood before her. She felt her brain awash with a horrific sense of disbelief. It took her several moments before she could even dare utter his name.

"Rudy...?"

sss

"I'm starting to think that maybe Terry really is behind this..." Penny spoke softly. She kept her gaze averted away from Snap, her teeth clenched tightly. "I-I didn't want to think it was possible. But it seemed that everything else was exhausted..."

Snap nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. Trust me, I'm not comfortable with the idea either." He raised his hand up in gesture. "But like you said, there isn't much else it could be. If the police hadn't found a trace of him even in that forest..."

Penny grimaced, obviously remembering all the bad news she got regarding that. Then she gave a small sigh. "A part of me wants to think that he's just lost. But most of me is starting to agree that this has to be foul play."

Snap didn't say a word. He didn't need to in order to express to Penny how much he agreed with her. He nodded his head up and down slowly, allowing the information to slowly sink into his mind. He couldn't help but grimace as he began to process it all, feeling a cold shudder go through his body. To think that something like this could really have happened...

He was a little surprised that Penny was starting to agree with him. Not that she never agreed before, but he just didn't expect her to change her mind this easily. Just the other day, she wanted to believe that Rudy was just lost, not wanting to think of the horrible alternative. Then again, just how long had she really been thinking about this?

Regardless, the fact that they now both agreed on what happened, that was partially a blessing. At least now they could concentrate on trying to move things forward, come up with a better plan and all that. Before, it was hard to think of anything as they had little idea of where to start. But since they now both agreed on what the cause could be, they could work towards preparations, and get a more solid plan.

But...hmm...where to start? If Terry really was behind Rudy's missing status, then they had a huge job ahead of themselves. At the very least, they would have been able to pinpoint him in the Real World. Rudy would not willingly take Terry into ChalkZone, so that ruled out this place.

But that only made things so much harder for themselves. If they were forced to go into the Real World, wouldn't they have less of a chance? Penny could not draw anything to life in the Real World. There was simply no option for that. And what of Penny's mom? Getting to these places? Trying not to raise suspicion? Sure they could use the portals wisely, but it was still a risk.

At least in ChalkZone, Penny would have been able to create something that could help them. Specifically, they could have created a scanner of some kind to hone in on, say, body heat, and then they could have used that to help them get closer to finding Rudy.

But as they were now? It would be so much harder to pull this off...

But Snap wasn't ready to give up. Neither was Penny. They would figure out some way to help out their dear friend. They would try to figure out a way to help him escape whatever madness he had himself trapped in. They just needed to figure out a way to locate Terry. Once they did that...

That brought out another issue, however.

"Where would Terry even go...?" Snap whispered softly. He could feel how his voice trembled at that question. It was bothering him even more than he thought it would. And it was already a huge issue to begin with. "We know that she got out. But where could she have gone...?"

Penny winced at this. She pulled her head back, slowly turning it to the side. "I...really have no clue... I mean... That woman could be anywhere..."

Snap nodded his head solemnly. "And last I checked, she hadn't been found. The police are obviously still looking for her. She had given them the slip so far."

"And if Rudy has been trapped with her this whole time..." Penny's voice trailed off as her eyes widened in horror.

Snap could feel himself freeze at that statement. He could feel a rush of cold go through him and he couldn't help but tremble. He really didn't want to think that this could have happened. But he and Penny both knew how Terry was with Rudy. If that nasty woman got another chance against him, she would take it. And with Rudy's heart being so weak...

"He might still be alive..." Penny added quickly. She used a more hopeful tone this time as she spoke, even if she was still uncertain herself. "I-I mean... She probably would have left his...his...corpse...around somewhere for someone to find..."

"Y-Yeah... She may have done that..." As much as what Penny said squicked him out, it did bring him some level of hope. "After all, she didn't care if people saw her shoot him earlier... A-And she seems like the type who would want to flaunt when she got things to go her way..."

It was a small light in the dark. A chance of hope that Rudy was still alive. If that Ms. Bouffant woman still had that ego of hers with her, then she would likely still have Rudy alive, if she had him at all. Even if she turned out to be innocent this time, she was their biggest suspect. Even Vinnie Raton wouldn't have gone this far, as far as either of them could tell. And they both laughed at the idea of Reggie or Mr. Wilter doing anything. Especially after the concern they both showed Rudy when this whole fiasco began.

But the issue was still that...they had no idea where Terry could have gotten off to. None of them had an idea where she could be hiding. They had some ideas, but nothing concrete. With a few locations in mind, they would need to try them all, but just...how would they go about it?

The blue and white zoner realized that they would likely need some form of help with this. They would need to gather up a couple other zoners to help them figure out what they could do about this. He was fully aware that ther were other zoners who were greatly worried about Rudy. He knew that many of them would be more than happy to lend a helping hand for the Great Creator.

Especially after his ordeal with Ms. Bouffant...

The first zoner tha he thought of could help was Rapsheeba. She was a well known zoner around these parts. She could early spruce up a massive group of zoners that would be willing to help any way that they could. Even if there wasn't much that they could do while in ChalkZone, every little bit counts. Perhaps they could find a way to contribute or even willing to dare to enter the Real World to...

Suddenly Snap stiffened up when he could hear screaming coming his way. It was faint at first, but rapidly grew in volume. He and Penny moved closer together as they looked left and right, trying to figure out just which direction this sound was coming from. It took them a few seconds to realize that this shout was not out of rage or anything; it was fear.

But that only made them feel even more worried about what was going on. What could have happened to make this zoner so scared? And just who was this zoner anyway? As the sound got closer, however...

"That's Blocky!" Cried out Snap. He stiffened his body up as he looked left and right frantically. "S-Something must have happened to him!"

"Or to someone else." Penny pointed out. She didn't bother dwelling on the specifics for now. There was no need for that. She gave him a small nod before she stated, "Come on! Let's go catch up to him!"

Snap didn't need to be told twice. Within moments, the two of them immediately dashed off in the direction where the scream had come from. They pounded their feet heavily against the ground, trying to move as quickly as possible. Their tongues hung out, flapping a little against the rush of air. They ran around anyone who was in their way, any object that stood in their path, and continued to head to wherever the scream was originating from.

It didn't take them that long to find Blocky rushing towards them. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide as though he had seen some kind of ghost or something. Almost all color had faded away from his face, making him look almost like a white triangle. If it weren't for the unique way he was drawn, it would have been easy to mistake him for someone else from this distance.

It took a few more moments, but they were soon caught up to him. They stopped a few feet in front of him and watched him in shocked silence as the zoner panted heavily, his hands placed on his thighs. He stayed like this for several moments, attempting to catch his breath. Snap and Penny exchanged looks of concern before they looked back at Blocky. They stared at him silently, waiting for him to become more relaxed and settle down so that he could tell them what was going on.

Poor Blocky... It hurt Snap to see him like this. It was bad enough when he was in a depressed mood and barely talked. But now he was screaming and shivering and looking like he had seen a ghost or something. Snap bit his lip tightly, trying to figure out just what had his friend so spooked. There had to be a reason he was acting like this. But..just what could that be...?

"Blocky...? Blocky, what's wrong?" Snap whispered as he moved forward towards his friend. He raised his hands up, motioning them up and down as he tried to settle down his friend. But so far, the flat zoner didn't even attempt to settle down. Snap grabbed onto his shoulders. "Blocky, it's me! Your friend! You're safe now!"

Penny moved in closer, noticing that Snap's words weren't enough to settle him down. She lowered herself slightly so that she could be eye level with him. "Snap is right, Blocky. You're with us now. You are safe. Please... you do not need to be scared."

Blocky still didn't settle down. It took several attempts from Snap and Penny to get him to start calming down. And it took a ton of effort to do that. Repeated calm words and gentle gestures eventually began to work. They started to get through to the zoner and they watched as his body started to relax a little, his screaming dissolving into whimpering.

But even when he appeared to have become calm, this was not entirely the case. His eyes were still wild, darting left and right. His body still shook as though he were still being threatened. He hudled in against himself, his fingers fumbling against each other, his teeth gritted slightly. Barely noticeable, but it was still there. And even when he looked at thim, there was no flicker of safety in his eyes. The poor guy still thought he was in danger, despite their reassurances.

When Blocky did settle down enough to speak, his voice was low and raspy, likely due to the screaming that he had been doing earlier. "I-I saw... I saw..." His voice trailed off for several moments as he panted, struggling to keep himself from hyperventilating again. Whatever happeend, it had clearly traumatized poor Blocky. "R-R-Rapsheeba.."

At this, Snap immediately froze, his heart skipping several beats. He exchanged a look of horror with Penny before looking back at the shivering, triangular zoner. "What about Rapsheeba...?" He asked softly. He licked his lips nervously, afraid to hear the answer, and yet still longing for the answer. When Blocky didn't answer right away, Snap found himself gripping Blocky's shoulders tighter, to the point of nearly causing him pain. "Blocky, what happened?!"

The rectangular zoner looked from him, to Penny, and back to him again. He licked his lips slowly, his lower lip trembling. It looked as if it was taking him a lot of energy to even try to speak. Snap struggled not to shake Blocky; he didn't want to frighten him further. But the urge was getting stronger and if Blocky didn't tell him soon...

"Sh-She was captured..."

Penny gasped at this, putting her hands to her mouth. "She was...what...?"

Blocky lowered his head. "I-I saw it happened... Sh-She told me to run... I wanted to help her but I...I was too scared, I..." He looked over at Snap. "I'm so sorry..."

Snap felt as though the world around him had shut down. He could feel his heart stop beating, his mind racing with several thoughts. He struggled to control his breathing, hyperventilation threatening to take over. He couldn't speak for several moments. All Snap could do was just...stare out at the ground, into nothingness, as his mind slowly processed this dreadful information.

Rapsheeba had been...captured..? Oh gawd no... Not someone else that he cared about.. Not Rapsheeba... No... This couldn't be true. Oh gawd, please let this be some kind of horrible nightmare...

He looked over at Blocky as he finally managed to get his breathing under control. Then he managed to say, "Take us there..."

"W-What...?"

"You heard me..." Snap spoke firmly. "Take us to where this had happened."

sss

Rapsheeba let out a groan as she slowly opened up her eyes. Everything was kinda dark and blurry for a while, even though she could detect the presence of something bright hitting against her face. It was such a confusing contrast, she had no idea what to think of it. She licked her lips slowly and let out a soft moan, slowly turning her head from side to side.

Her vision began to slowly sharpen. As it did so, she began to see more blurs and colors come into view. She blinked her eyes slowly, allowing more things to become clear and sharp to her. She let out a small yawn, trying to drive off some of the grogginess that had a hold of her. Then she attempted to move...

...only to realize that she could not. There was something thick and strong holding her against some kind of solid surface. No matter how much she squirmed about, there was no loosening herself up. At first, she did not react too much to it, feeling a bit too groggy for that. But once she was able to regain more of her senses...

The singer zoner could feel her heart start to skip beats. She blinked her eyes rapidly, each time causing her vision to get even sharper, the shadows and blobs being replaced with more exact shapes and colorations. And as she looked around, she began to quickly realize that she was not back at home.

But where was she? This place... It was nothing like anything she had seen before. It was not anything remarkable at first. A log cabin. She had seen those before. But this was...just way too detailed to be any one she had been to before. There was just something about this that was...different. Something that was...not necessarily off, but told her this couldn't be from ChalkZone. No log cabin she knew of was this remarkably detailed and sharp.

But if it wasn't ChalkZone-based, then the only other thing that it could be...

...was if she was in the Real World.

As soon as she had that thought, she could feel her body stiffen up immediately. If that is where she was indeed, if she was in the Real World... That did not solve as many issues as it did create more questions. Her head became alive with many questioning thoughts.

How did she get into the Real World? How did she end up in this place? Did someone bring her here? And why was she hooked down? Did...Did someone capture her...?

And that was when she started to get flashbacks in her head. Flicker after flicker, each one bright like the flash of a camera's light, she could see images in her head. She could not see too much and there was too much muddling. But she was still able to see specific images. Ones that caused her blood to freeze inside her body, turning into a burning ice.

Rudy had something to do with this... She didn't want to believe it. She tried to figure out some other possibility. But...she knew it to be true. That was one image that remained the strongest in her mind, due to how shocking it had been when she found out. Rudy was the one who captured her.

But...But why would he do that...? She didn't want to think that he had turned traitor. And he did apologize when he captured her, right? Didn't he mention someon else? Rudy must have been forced into this, but still...

Rapsheeba could hear the sound of a door opening up. She swung her head over, narrowing her eyes slightly as she watched a shadow stretching along the ground. It seemed a bit too tall to be Rudy. Or Vinnie for that matter. Rapsheeba gritted her teeth as Terry Bouffant emerged into the room.

Rapsheeba hadn't really encountered Terry directly herself. But from what she had been told, she was a nasty, disgusting woman and she should take caution when talking with her. Indeed, the woman's twisted smile and her very gait gave away her menacing, calculating demeanor. Rapsheeba could feel her heart nearly stop beating as the red-haired woman made her way closer towards her. Rapsheeba could only pull herself back as far as she could go, wondering just what this woman wanted with her.

"I see you are awake. That is good. I would have hated to have to wait longer." Terry's predictable statement had an eerie tinge to it, making Rapsheeba shudder. "I see Rudy was a good little boy and got you for us. He has become..quite cooperative..."

Rapsheeba narrowed her eyes at this and growled. So...she was right after all. Rudy really had been forced into this. And by Terry. Of course it would be Terry. Rapsheeba jerked herself from side to side as she attempted to get free. When her attempts kept failing, she collapsed against the large board she had been tied to. She panted a few times before she hissed out, "What the fuck have you done to Rudy?!"

The red-haired woman tilted her head to the side. She raised her hands up at her sides. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Rapsheeba hissed. "Don't you dare lie to me! Rudy would never do something like this! And you just admitted that..."

"Take it as you will. I don't care." Terry moved even closer. She paced back and forth in front of Rapsheeba, eyeing her up and down like she was just some toy she had found somewhere. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinized her. "I would have preferred someone larger. But I can understand if you were the only one that he could get a hold of..."

A larger one? For what? Rapsheeba was almost tempted to ask. But the fear of the answer caused her to keep silent. She simply gritted her teeth and snarled in the woman's general direction.

It was so hard to believe just how fast everything was moving along. After a couple of months with very little progress, now it felt as though everything was happening at once. Not only did she figure out where Rudy was, but she also learned, in these past couple minutes, that Terry had been his captor and that she had done..something to him to make him work for her. A threat? Brainwashing? She wasn't sure, but that didn't change the fact that Rudy was now working for Terry.

That part did make her heart sting and twist. But she didn't let it bother her too much. She couldn't really be that upset with Rudy over this. It wasn't his fault that this was going on. It wasn't his fault that Terry had him in her possession again. And at least he still had remorse. Which was more than she could say for a certain bitch.

It was so tempted to punch that smug, smirking face of hers. If only she could free one of her arms, she would give Terry something to smile about. She would ensure that she would never forget what happens when you mess with her friends like this.

"I am sure you are wondering why you are here. I could tell you... Yeah, why not? Not like you can tell anyone anyway. And I feel you have every right to know why you were captured, right..?"

Rapsheeba merely snarled in response. Terry chuckled and continued on as though nothing happened.

"If you think I am going to hurt you, I can safely say that you can put your mind at ease. I had already promised that boy I wouldn't hurt you. This was the only way I could get him to agree to let me speak to one of you...zoners I believe you are called?" Terry waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, I want you to answer a few questions."

"Why don't you ask Rudy?" Rapsheeba immediately regretted telling her that. She didn't want to draw Terry's attention on Rudy more than it already was.

But all Terry did was shrug her shoulders. "I feel that these questions are easier to ask a zoner directly than the boy. I mean sure, he's already provided us with some interesting information about ChalkZone..."

Rapsheeba could feel her hear twist at this. Even though she wanted to believe that Rudy was forced into this, it still hurt nonetheless that he gave away such information to someone like this. Just what could he have been thinking? And just what did Terry do to make him relinquish said information?

But she tried not to let it get to her too much. Her attention returned to Terry; she had to keep her eye on her. She never knew what she was going to do. This woman had become unpredictable, and she could only imagine what kind of information she wanted her for.

"I know this is pretty personal and all..." Terry paced from side to side in front of her. She tilted her head to one side a little, one of her eyes looking directly at her. "And I know this might be a little personal of me to ask you. But...I really do have to know, and you..." She gave a quick chuckle as she shifted herself around. "...I'm sure you would be good enough to provide the answers to these questions..."

Rapsheeba did not like the way this woman was saying these things. She cringed herself back further, baring her teeth at her. She released a low growl, a weak attempt to make Terry back off. All it did was make her chuckle even more, irritating the singer zoner. With a low hiss, she grolwed, "And just what kind of question were you thinking of...?"

Terry gave her a sick, twisted smile. One that shot something sharp and cold through the singer zoner's body, making it tremble a few times. Terry had not yet said anything, but she could already detect the thick tension in the air, and how everything just suddenly began to feel so much heavier.

Terry reached over and she placed her hand against Rapsheeba's cheek. This sudden gesture made Rapsheeba squirm about, struggling to pull her head away from Terry. She seethed through her clenched teeth and she growled, threatening to bite the woman. When Terry did not let up, that's exactly what the zoner attempted. But her teeth only clanged against air.

"Such a feisty little zoner you are." Terry looked down at her hand, examining it as though Rapsheeba really had damaged it. "I have to wonder if this is how you zoners attract mates."

That sudden comment out of nowhere caused Raphseeba to freeze. Her eyes bulged wide as she began to realize just what Terry was alluding to. She cringed back, unable to fully hide her fear, as Terry smirked at her. The way she was looking at her...

"I think you are starting to catch my drift, are you not?" Terry placed her hands on either side of Rapsheeba, leaning in a little closer. Rapsheeba was so tempted to spit at her. But reminders of her predicament caused her to remain still. "I mean, after all, if we were to put you zoners in a breeding program..."

Rapsheeba shrieked, "Breeding program?! What in the world do you think we are?! Animals?!"

Terry tapped a finger against her chin lightly. "Well, you are technically another species. So to us, yes, you would be animals." She gripped Rapsheeba's shoulders tightly, holding her in place. The singer zoner struggled harder, but could not free herself. "I did tell that boy I would figure out a backup plan in case something were to go wrong..."

"He..He agreed to this...?" Rapsheeba spoke softly. She could feel burning waves of betrayal shoot through her body. How could Rudy be okay with this?

Terry turned her head to the side. "Oh don't feel upset, you stupid little zoner..." Rapsheeba shot a glare at her, but remained quiet as she waited to hear what she was going to say. "Rudy does not know about my idea. I am still unsure myself." She patted the top of Rapsheeba's head. "And that's where you come in."

"Like hell I would help you with something like that.." Rapsheeba hissed at her.

"Oh I don't know... I can be very...persuasive..." Terry leaned in closer. She moved her hands up and began to stroke along Rapsheeba's cheeks, slightly rougher than she would have liked. "You can just ask Rudy. He was so resiliant at first. But now.." Her voice grew a little deeper and quieter. "He trusts me. If I could get even the protector of ChalkZone on my side..." She tilted her head. "...then I am sure I can convince you to relinquish some of you zoners' more...private details..."

Rapsheeba could feel her face lose several shades of color. She struggled to keep herself under control, not wanting to hyperventilate or show any further strong signs of fear to the evil woman. She tried to remain hopeful, tried to believe that she would be freed before Terry could do any damage. But...she knew that Terry was right. If even Rudy could fall under her control, did she really stand that much of a chance...?

sss

"It happened over there!" Blocky spoke up. His voice was quiet, but still loud enough for them to hear him. "Right in that spot!"

Snap and Penny moved forward as quickly as they could. They went up the hill, following closely behind Blocky. The rectangular zoner led them up the grassy surface as he made a beeline over to the pool. It was quite amazing to see him dart over here fast, despite his fear before of coming back. His desire to help Rapsheeba was stronger than his own fears.

Penny gritted her teeth as she tried to mentally prepare herself for what she and the others might see. Blocky really didn't have any idea of what happened after he fled; only that he thought he could hear Rapsheeba give out a scream. That alone was enough to fill her and Snap with horror. What could have happened that Rapsheeba would have cried out like that...?

The only way to know was to keep going. Even if Penny feared what the answer might be, at least they were all in this together. She quickened her pace, moving out a little in front of Snap as she tried to get a better view of what laid ahead. She licked her lips nervously as the pool began to come into view...

Upon arriving at the top, she and Snap were greeted with...nothing. Just...nothing. It was as though this place was never really all that special. No sign of a pool anywhere. They all looked around, confusion sifting through their minds. There was a metal rim that made it look like a pool, but that was it. Where the water would have been was filled with just grass.

Snap frowned slightly at this. "Blocky, are you sure this was the place?"

"I'm positive! I wouldn't have forgotten about the location! Not after what happened!" Blocky cried out. He looked around frantically. "I-I know it was here somewhere... I swear it!"

Snap tapped his foot a little, his hands on his hips. "Unless that swimming pool took a walk and left part of it behind..."

"No, I'm telling you! It was right here!" Blocky rushed forward. He looked left and right, breathing in and out rapidly. Small sweat beads moved down his flat cheeks. "It was all right here..." He then pointed in one direction. "A-And Rapsheeba was there, trying to get out. She was trapped and..."

"Okay, Blocky. We understand." Penny reached down and placed a hand on his shoulder. Blocky took several moments before he could even try to settle down. "What else do you remember? Anything specific?"

"That will hopefully bring us one step closer to finding Rapsheeba. We can't afford to have more missing people." Snap said as he took a few steps towards Blocky.

Penny gave him a small glare. Though she could not really be that angry at him. Snap did speak the truth. Having someone else missing would only make things worse. And if Blocky had any information at all that could help them find where Rapsheeba could have been taken, that would make things so much easier.

But it was looking as if Blocky really didn't have much else to say. The flat zoner had fallen utterly slightly, looking left and right, having a solemn expression on his face. Not that Penny was surprised. If he really had turned and ran when Rapsheeba told him to, then there wouldn't have been much time to gather information. The zoner may have heard a scream, but that wouldn't really tell them much of where Rapsheeba was taken. They would need to try something else...if they could only figure out what that something else was.

Snap stared at Blocky long and hard. There was a lot of emotion that raced through him. Penny felt herself immediately jerk forward a little before managing to stop herself. She didn't really know what Snap was going to do or say, but she prepared herself for the worst. Judging from his connection with Rapsheeba and the expression on his face, it would be very easy for the zoner to snap at the poor rectangle.

To her surprise and relief, however, Snap did no such thing. She didn't know if it was because he was never mad at all, or if it was because he had self control. Either way, Snap's stern expression was soon replaced with a more compassionate one. Blocky's whole demeanor seemed to relax upon seeing Snap looking at him in a much more loose way.

"Hey, it's okay..." Snap cooed to Blocky. There was a sense of guilt in his voice. He clearly felt bad for scaring Blocky a little earlier. The small blue and white zoner put his arms around the trembling rectangle, attempting to comfort him. "We'll figure this out. You'll see."

Blocky didn't answer him. He just leaned further against Snap, putting his arms around him and pressing himself against him. The rectangular zoner just began to cry against Snap, who proceeded to rub his back and tried to soothe him.

Penny could feel her heart skip a few beats at the sight of this. It was already a given that Blocky was much more sensitive lately. They had all seen proof of that. But there was just...something about seeing him in this state that made her feel sick. To know that Blocky's sense of safety had been diminished because of the sudden disappearance of not one, but now two of his best friends...

She formed a fist wih her hand. She didn't know exactly who was behind this for certain or what they wanted. But mark her words, she would make sure that they regretted what they did. No one got away with hurting her friends like this. No one...

She soon took notice of something sparkly on the ground. She frowned at it, tilting her head to one side. She looked over at where Snap and Blocky were. She didn't want to disturb them. No, she'd rather they continue having their moment.

Instead, she approached the strange object on her own. It was just sort of...laying there, as though someone had dropped it. It did not seem to match anything around here. It was so out of place, which was probably why she could spot it so easily. And it was so light in color to. A pale white color against green and...

Wait... White...?

Penny frowned at this. Why would there be white here? White and sparkly... That did look familiar, but... No, that was impossible, right? There was no way that...

Penny moved over to the object at a quickened pace, feeling her heart beat against her chest. It didn't take her too long before she managed to reach said object on the ground. She couldn't see it entirely clearly due to the grass. But that was easily remedied by lowering herself down and spreading the grass. And when she did, she had to immediately freeze, struggling to keep herself from falling over.

There, on the ground, was a small piece of magic chalk. There was no mistaking it. Even if all she could see was the tip of it, the way that it sparkled gave away that this was indeed magic chalk.

But if it was magic chalk, then that could only mean one thing: Someone else had gotten into ChalkZone.

Many chilling thoughts ran through her mind. What could have happened? Who had gotten in here? How could this have happened? There were so many possiblities that...

Then she realized something.

Terry may have had Rudy, and Rudy might have had magic chalk with him, even if he was rendered incapable of using it. Was it possible that Terry was the one who... Oh gawd...

Penny turned her head over to look at her confused and startled friends. She could see the way they looked at her, all scared and uncertain, confused as to why she was looking at them like that. She licked her lips slowly, wanting to bring them better news. But all she could think of to tell them was...

"We got a problem."

She had never seen her friends' faces go pale as quickly as they did now.

sss

This couldn't be possible, right? It had to be some kind of sick joke. There couldn't be a way that this was real. It made no sense. It just... No, this could not be true...

And yet Snap was fully aware of what he was seeing. His large, white eyes weren't lying to him. The more he stared at the ground, the more he realized that it really was there. No matter how many times he blinked his eyes, no matter how much he rubbed them, nothing would alter the image of what he saw before him.

A piece of magic chalk...

But...why? How could this be possible? Why would this be here? Penny couldn't have done it and Biclops was so careful with the chalk. He wouldn't have... But then, how would this chalk have gotten here?

There was only one thing that Snap could think of. And it caused his blood to turn into ice.

A creator had done this.

His mind immediately swirled and flooded with many thoughts. Images flashed in the back of his mind as he struggled to keep himself under control. Surely he was just overthinking this. Surely there had to be another way that this could have happened. And yet... That did not stop the horrible pictures in his mind from taking him over, forcing him to look at them over and over again.

There were a few people that he thought of when he saw the chalk. There was of course Rudy, but he was missing. It couldn't have been him. There was also Reggie, but he wouldn't be sadistic enough to do something like this..would he? No, he wasn't that bad of a kid, especially with how he had helped them bring Terry Bouffant to justice.

That left only Terry and Vinnie...

Snap gritted his teeth. Regardless if they were working together or if it was just one of them, the realization that they were the ones behind Rapsheeba's kidnapping boiled his blood. He seethed through his teeth, his fists forming tightly against his sides. He struggled to keep his mind settled, and yet he could not stop growling. His head spun and he felt like he was getting overheated. It was an absolute miracle that he did not pass out at this moment.

He needed to do something. No, they all needed to do something and fast. They couldn't just sit here any longer and just wait for whatever to happen. They had proof right here that at least one of those two creepazoids was behind his. Now they just had to figure out what to do about that. They just...

But what could they do? Even with this chalk on the ground, how were they going to use it to follow the trail back to the source? All they knew was that a creator had gotten in here and drawn this. It didn't even have to be Terry or Vinnie. Someone else could have... But that would mean another creator was in ChalkZone, and oh gawd, that was the last bit of news any of them needed to hear.

But if it was true, then...

Snap turned his head back to Penny. After he finally broke out of his little trance, he said, "...do you know where that chalk could have come from? Any idea how it got there?"

"No." Penny's eyes weren't facing him; they were looking straight towards the chalk on the ground. "I really don't know. I just spotted it a short time ago. I know about as much as you do."

Blocky shivered as he stared at the chalk. "D-Do you think this means that..."

Snap and Penny looked at Blocky sadly. The poor guy.. He was already suffering enough anxiety as it was with what else was going on. This was the last thing he needed added onto his plate. They exchanged glances with each other before looking back down. They sighed sadly, wishing that they could say something to help cheer him up. But they both knew that there was nothing that they could say. How could they cheer him up when they were just as horrified as he was?

Snap still held onto the hope that maybe they misunderstood something here. Even if he was so careful, Biclops might have made a mistake, right? Maybe he got a piece of chalk stuck in him and it happened to fall in this area. Or maybe one of the zoners did get a piece of chalk and tried to use it, only to discard it when it became useless. Both of those scenarios were favorable compared to the...alternative.

Snap struggled to put a brave face on. Despite its difficulty, he still wanted to try to help Blocky settle down a little. A rather difficult task and he had a feeling that it would take so much more to make him fully calm. A smile would be at least better for him to see than a frightened stare, of course.

"We should at least let Biclops know about this." Penny spoke up, raising a finger slightly. "He needs to be aware that something is going on." She paused for a moment, rubbing her chin gently. "I think he might also have an idea of what happened..."

"Oh yeah! He might have seen something!" Snap shouted with excitement. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about that. Of course, that giant might be able to help them with this. Just then a thought crossed his mind. "Do you think he's available right now? I know he likes to some time to rest and he doesn't usually like being disturbed then..."

"But this is an emergency. I don't think he'd mind. And besides..." Penny raised her hand up in gesture. "He's never minded before."

"That's true. I guess I was just..."

"Oh don't worry about it. Let's just go over and see Biclops now. We can figure out what to do from there. We can't just stand around and do absolutely nothing about this."

Snap and Blocky nodded their heads in agreement. They both knew Penny was right. It would be pretty stupid to just stand around like nothing was going on. They were only going to prolong things and the more they do that, the less chance they'll have to solve this. Biclops needed to know and if he did have information, the faster they got it, the better.

Snap felt his mind burn as he thought of what could be happening to Rapsheeba. He sucked on his lip, trying to keep himself calm. He hoped that she was all right. He hoped that she was hanging in there, doing whatever she could to stay alive and fine. He knew that she was rather capable and tougher than she looked. But he still worried for her. If she was captured by Terry...

He tried to push the thought out of his mind for now. For the time being, they needed to focus on getting to Biclops and tell him about this. They needed to get whatever information they could, if there was any, before they could try to help Rapsheeba. But he swore, no matter what it took, he would get Rapsheeba out of there, if it was the last thing he ever did.

Without thinking another thought, the blue and white zoner immediately took off, following his friends close behind. They all began to head out towards the Chalk Mine. They all hoped and prayed that Biclops would be able to help them. Surely there was...something that he could do...right?

sss

It felt so weird doing this. All of this was just so foreign. He never would have thought, in his entire short life, that he'd be doing something like this. It was quite strange the way life worked. You'd think it was heading in one direction. Then it would surprise you with a loop and just shift things around so dramatically.

Life was just so odd, so unpredictable. Who knew that, in this time frame, he would be here? A part of him wondered if it was some kind of dream. It could very well be. Or perhaps he just needed to be slapped awake or something.

And yet in the end, he knew this was all real...

Rudy sucked on his lip as he thought about some of the more...uncomfortable things that had happened. He did feel a strong wave of guilt strike him as he recalled what he had to do earlier. He had a feeling that Rapsheeba would not forgive him for a long time. But at least she had the comfort of knowing that she was not going to be hurt. Terry and Vinnie did promise that they wouldn't hurt her.

Rudy had some...confliction about those two. There was still a part of his mind that wanted to be cautious. Everyday, he could feel his brain trying to remind him of the danger that they represented. And he would still remember what they had done. Especially Terry.

But these thoughts had gotten weak over time, tot he point where he did not pay as much attention to them anymore. He would not lie; they were pretty nasty people in the past. But that was then and this is now. They had clearly changed, and he should be encouraging of that, shouldn't he? After all, they did help him out when they did not need to. He had broken his leg and they had taken him in.

He did feel grateful for that as well. He recalled how frightened he was when he started to lose consciousness. He hadn't been aware that he broke his leg at the time, but he did recall hitting the ground at least. He recalled how scared he was that he would not wake up and how the cold kept surrounding him in its dangerous aura. The thought still chilled him just thinking about it.

At least he was safe now. Terry and Vinnie had been working tirelessly in helping him feel better. He had grown more and more relaxed around them as he realized that they really did want to help. He wasn't sure what caused the change of heart, but that didn't matter. If they really wanted to hurt him, they would have; there was no benefit for them in what they were doing.

The whole 'wanting to learn more about ChalkZone' thing? That was nothing more than a byproduct of the continued trust building between them. They hadn't tried to force the information out of him before; they had only asked recently because they had gotten to know each other and they were just genuinely curious. Terry did make a promise that nothing would happen. And after all she and Vinnie had done for him, he believed her.

But would Rapsheeba? Rudy was aware that she...didn't have the best view of Terry. And that was understandable. Terry had done some awful things before. He still had some uncomfortable memories regarding how Terry shot him. That alone was enough to make him sometimes feel nervousness around her now, even though he tried to fight back against the feeling as much as possible.

Still, he did hope that Rapsheeba learned to relax some more. Terry was not going to harm her; she had only wanted to talk to her about...something. She did not delve into what it was. Not that he asked. He trusted Terry enough to know that it wasn't anything dangerous. She probably just wanted to know a little more about zoners. And what better way to find out than to ask a zoner themself?

Rudy felt a sting in his chest when he realized that he hadn't yet seen Snap or Penny. And he wasn't sure when he would. He was still snowbound. It was amazing that Terry and Vinnie had even stocked up enough food for this long. It was a wonder that he didn't start to develop cabin fever.

But there were other issues at play.

The first and most obvious is that he still couldn't walk that well. He had to use a cane to get into ChalkZone to move around. But his leg still hurt him so badly and even after taking some powerful painkillers, it still took a lot of effort to grin and bare it as he got everything ready.

He mostly sat around as a result. He only walked when he needed to. He opted to stay on the couch, feeling a sense of comfort by laying there. If he needed anything, Terry or Vinnie would help. Sometimes both at the same time. He was thankful for their selflessness. He must be annoying them on some level with all the times he asked for food or to use the bathroom, but they've been really good sports about it.

The other issue is that he felt so dizzy and cold. The fever hadn't gone away. He placed his hand against his forehead. It felt normal to him, but according to Vinnie, who had seen him a short while ago, it was burning hot. He wasn't sure how he had gotten a fever, but it was making things so diffcult.

This was another reason it was so difficult to walk. He felt so whoozy and dizzy. His walking was quite unstable and he almost always felt like there was a freezing cold breeze striking him, causing goosebumps to form. Trying to do too much thinking resulted in a sense of vertigo, and he had to hold his head and sit down, or if he already was, lean up against something.

It was for these reasons that he did not stay in ChalkZone for long nor did he try to find his friends. He really did want to see them again; they must be worried sick about him. But he did not want to put his health at risk and worry Terry and Vinnie, either. He knew that he had to take it easy.

Which was why, after taking Rapsheeba in to speak with Terry, he had decided it was best to just settle himself down. He rested against the couch, his legs stretched out. He tried his best to fight off the dizziness that had a hold of him. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the medicine to kick in. He hoped it was soon. He wasn't sure how much more of this dizziness that he could handle.

He could hear some kind of shuffling over in the kitchen. He turned his head and peered over there. It was so hard to see from this angle. He could only tell that Vinnie was busy searching through some stuff. Probably getting ready to make another meal. It was getting close to that time and Rudy could feel his stomach growling.

Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? At this point, he did not care. He just wanted to eat. It would help him feel better and hopefully fight off the bouts of dizziness that had struck him. And of course, push away the feelings of weakness that made him want to just pass out. It took so much of his energy just to stay awake and he didn't know how long that would last.

He could see that Vinnie had finally done whatever it is he needed to do in the kitchen. And when he came out, it was more or less confirmed that he really had been getting something for him to eat. In his hands, he held what appeared to be a sandwich. Simple, just meat and cheese. But food nonetheless. Rudy could feel his mouth starting to water as he brought it closer.

"Here." Vinnie said. His voice was a little blunt, but not entirely uncaring. "A little something f or you. I'm sure your brief trip into ChalkZone wore you out, when you're...uh, you know..."

Rudy nodded his head. "Yeah...thanks..." Rudy moved to sit himself up. "I appreciate..."

He suddenly felt a wave of dizziness strike him. He let out a groan as he grabbed onto his head and tried to settle himself down. He seethed through clenched teeth, his whole body feeling as though it was being wracked around like crazy. And then he started to feel as though he was falling forward.

"Rudy!" Vinnie lurched forward quickly. He looped an arm across Rudy's chest and held onto him, stopping him from falling over. "Are you okay?!"

Rudy didn't answer right away. He could feel Vinnie gently push him back into the couch. He could feel those worried eyes scanning over him to see if he had been hurt further. The boy struggled to control his breathing, fighting off the dizziness that had a hold of him. Only when he felt like he had gotten control over himself did he speak.

"I'm fine... Thanks." He rubbed his head gently. "I just...moved a little too quickly, that's all..."

"I'll say. You need to be more careful, kiddo." Vinnie narrowed his eyes slightly. "You were already banged up before. You don't need another reason to lay down on the couch."

"Yeah...I know.. I'm sorry." Rudy said softly, lowering his head. "I promise to be more careful."

Vinnie gave him a small smile. "Oh forget about it." The short man lowered himself so that he was sitting down next to Rudy. He motioned the sandwich towards him again. "Here, why don't you eat something now?"

"Thanks." Rudy realized that he probably sounded like a broken record. But at the moment, he didn't care. He reached over and he took the sandwich from Vinnie, unable to stop himself from thanking him yet again. He took a few whiffs of the sandwich and then he smiled over at Vinnie. "It does smell really good."

"Why don't you take a bite? I'm sure it tastes better than it smells." Vinnie suggested, raising his hand up in gesture. "And besides, I think it's best if you finish that before Ms. Bouffant comes out to talk to you more."

Rudy tilted his head in curiosity at this. "There more questions she and you want to ask me? I thought Rapsheeba would..."

"Oh no, Rapsheeba would answer plenty of our questions." Vinnie waved his hand dismissively. "But there's still more we'd like to ask you."

Rudy raised an eyebrow at this. "You already know an awful lot.."

Vinnie looked over at Rudy with a slightly hurt expression. "Do you..not trust us..?"

Rudy could feel his eyes widen and he felt his gut twist as he realized what he did. Wanting to fix things before they got worse, he waved his hand out in front of him rapidly. "Oh no, it's not that. I do trust you.. I just..." He couldn't finish his sentence.

Vinnie smiled. "Oh don't worry. I'm not that upset. I mean...we didn't exactly have a good first time speaking to each other before, right?" He gave a small, nervous chuckle. "Me having you dragged down to the police station and all..."

Rudy nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I do remember that." He couldn't help but smile at what was such a distant and vague memory now. "You were so much nastier then.."

Vinnie flinched at that. "Yeah, I know..." He smiled once more, reaching over and gently patting Rudy on the head. The boy did nothing to cringe away. "Well that's all behind us now." He pulled back and the two humans exchanged small smiles to each other. Then he motioned his hand towards him. "Now...why don't you eat that?"

Rudy nodded his head. Without another word, he bit into the sandwich and he commenced with eating it.

sss

Blocky could feel a wave of fear crawling up in the pit of his stomach. He struggled to keep himself under control, but no matter what he tried or did, he just could not relax. Not right now. Not while this was going on.

Those words echoed over his skull again and again, refusing to let up. He sucked on his lip tightly, seething through his chattering teeth. He looked left and right as he tried to settle himself down. It was becoming an impossible feat to stay fully relaxed, however. And he couldn't help but shiver a few times.

"I am sorry, but I did not notice anything going on."

Those words... Biclops's words that he had told them moments ago... In the context of what was going on, these did not bring any comfort to him, but instead a string of horrific thoughts. He found it hard to believe that Biclops, who was generally aware of much of what was going on, didn't know anything about this. Well it was true that the giant was not a complete database and that he couldn't always see everything. But still...

He found himself huddling a little closer to Snap. The younger, more confident zoner attempted to cheer him up by holding his hand and putting his arm around him. Snap spoke some soft comforting words to him. But none of that was good enough. He could not allow himself to fully relax. Not with what was going on.

Penny had taken a few steps out in front, her head tilted up as she stared right at the giant. She had a small frown on her face. Not out of anger, but disbelief and curiosity. Blocky could not fully hear what was going on, but he could tell that she was attempting to see if there was anything that the giant knew. But as the giant shook his head, just like he had before, Blocky knew it was the same old, same old response.

Biclops did not know anything.

So they were back to square one again. The thought of not knowing still, of being forced into the dark like this... It made the flat zoner quite uncomfortable. He could feel his heart beating inside his chest and he struggled not to let out a whimper. The fact that Rapsheeba disappeared and earlier Rudy with no trace... What if it happened to someone else? Another friend of his? ...himself...?

Blocky shook his head. He didn't want to let himself delve in too deeply into despair, especially when he knew all he'd succeed in doing is further terrifying his friends. They were already so worried about him...

It was going to be so hard to remain calm, though. It was going to be just too difficult for him to be able to fully relax. He felt as though he needed to sit down and just let his body shiver itself out. He wasn't sure if he could even hang onto Snap for much longer. He was feeling that weak and it was only getting worse. And the temptation to throw up was getting stronger.

"Don't worry, Blocky. It will be all right."

Blocky looked over at Snap. Even though he's already heard those words several times before, hearing them again from Snap was a little comforting. It reminded the rectangular zoner that there were people on the case, and that there was at least a chance to set things right.

There was still some fear, however, and he wasn't sure if he could fully relax any time soon. Thoughts of Rapsheeba and Rudy ran through his mind swiftly and he was not able to keep them out of his skull. While both might still be alive, there was also the chance that they...they were... No, they were fine. They just had to be. They were tougher than that. There was no way that they would be...

"Are you absolutely sure?" The sound of Penny's voice caused the two zoners to look over at where Penny was still striking a conversation with Biclops. "You weren't out at all? You didn't see anything strange? That swimming pool that I described, it does not sound familiar?"

"For the last time, no! I have told you already and I will tell you one more time. I do not know what's going on either." Biclops placed a large hand against his chest. "Just because I know a lot does not mean I know it all." There was a sternness in his voice and even a sense of irritation. But not flat out anger. He sounded more understanding than that. "I am sorry about what's happened. I am worried as well. You don't think that the news of Rapsheeba's disappearance hasn't shaken me up?"

"Oh no, no, it's not that." Penny waved her hands quickly, taking a small step back away from the giant zoner. "It's just... You usually have a good idea of what is going on and you tend to see a lot of things and..." Penny licked her lips nervously. "I guess we were just hoping that you might have seen...something."

Biclops let out a small sigh. His body appeared to relax a little bit. He shook his head slowly to one side, closing his eyes for a moment and then reopening them to stare down at the small child before him. "I am sorry. I really am." He straightened himself up. "I am glad you still came and told me, though. Thank you. I will inform the other zoners about this."

"Thank you..." Penny murmured softly.

Well so much for that. What were they going to do now? They still had no idea of where Rapsheeba and Rudy could be. They could be together, both captured by the same person. Or they could have suffered different fates. And in both cases, they had literally no idea of just where to go from here. They had no knowledge of how to pick this up or where to take things. What were they supposed to do wat this point?

Blocky tried to think of something, anything, that could help. But he was only drawing a blank. And the more he did, the more irritated he could himself get. He could feel his stomach starting to churn and twist and he struggled not to allow himself to throw up. It was a struggle, but he managed to swallow at least some of his anxiety. Remaining calm was very important here.

He looked over at where the others were, noting their expressions. Snap and Penny both looked disappointed and worried while Biclops looked saddened that he could not bring them better news. Blocky slowly lowered his head, his mouth partially open. And then he narrowed his eyes. If they couldn't figure something out then...

He'd try. Even if it meant burning his stomach from the inside out, he would try to figure out something. He needed to make an attempt at the very least. For worrying his friends, he felt like he owed it to them. And he cared deeply for Rapsheeba and Rudy as well. Even if they already knew this, he felt this urge to prove it to them.

Before he realized what he was doing, the small rectangular zoner broke free from Snap's grasp. He turned himself around and he began to run back to where the scene had happened. He completely ignored the cries and shouts for him as he ran. He just kept going faster and faster, going back to where Rapsheeba had been dragged off. Surely he would find something when he got there... He just had to.

But as he ran, his more negative thoughts started to cloud his mind. No...not now...please... But the more he tried to push them back, the harder it was for him to think clearly. He could feel these horrible thoughts surge around him, crowding him, pulling him down. He could not escape them no matter how hard he tried.

He began to realize that... The odds of him being able to find anything were slim to none. The odds of him being able to help turn the tides, to hopefully find Rudy and Rapsheeba... They were nonexistent. They had a piece of magic chalk but no leads as to where it came from. Him running back may only be wasting time, and that was not something that they could afford.

Slowly, the rectangular zoner began to slow down. The shouts for him became sharper and clearer, yet he still did not respond. All he could do was slow his pace, gradually going from walking to jobbing and then a brisk walk. And he continued to reduce his speed then until he just stood there, staring at nothingness.

"Blocky!" Snap shouted when he finally caught up to him. Penny was not far behind. Biclops, of course, had stayed behind for obvious reasons. "What were you doing?! Why did you run off like that?! You scared us!"

Penny stood next to Snap. Her expression was a cross between a frown and a concerned look. "Blocky, what happened back there? Why did you just..."

Blocky couldn't hold in it any longer. He couldn't suppress his emotions like this. He couldn't just stay silent. Otherwise, he was just going to tear himself apart from the inside out. The thought of that made him hiss softly, grittin his teeth.

He looked over at his friends and he could feel his gut twist at how worried they both looked. He lowered his head. He couldn't help but feel quite ashamed of what he had done. He hadn't meant to make them worry so much. That hadn't been his intention. He hoped that they would forgive him. He.. He didn't mean it...

"I'm so sorry you guys... I'm so sorry..." Blocky trembled, tears spilling out ofh is eyes rapidly. He sniffled loudlly, unable to make himself stop. This took Snap and Rapsheeba aback. "I didn't.. I wasn't t-tryign to..."

"Oh Blocky.. It's all right. We're not mad at you." Cooed Penny. She moved in closer, wrapping her arms around the trembling zoner. "We would never be angry at you."

"Y-Yeah, pal... L-Like I said, it'll be all right.." Snap joined in, gently patting Blocky, smiling shakenly at him. "Shhh.. It's okay.."

Blocky couldn't bring himself to stop crying. The only thing that he could do was just lean against his friends. A part of him was grateful for their understanding. But the other was just berating himself for being so weak, for 'forcing' them to comfort him. He felt at a crossroads of both disgust and fear.

Regardless, he didn't run away. He kept his arms wrapped around them and pressed himself against them, huddling himself further in their embrace. He whimpered softly, sniffling loudly. He wasn't sure how long he remained like this, but he didn't care. He just kept holding onto his two dear friends and sobbed, his cries practically echoing throught the area around them.

sss

Terry frowned as she stared at the small medium before her. She was quite a stubborn little thing, wasn't she? She had done whatever she could to be patient and appear understanding. She wanted the zoner to try to relinquish the information more willingly. But it would seem it was going to be harder than she thought.

Well, she did have the zoner secured. She did try to assure her that it was for her own good; she didn't really know what things in the Real World would have harmed her. She had some idea, thanks to her interaction with Snap. But she did not want to take any chances. It was difficult enough for Rudy to fetch a zoner; she did not want him having to go get another one.

But gawd, this zoner was making things so hard... Why couldn't she just give her what she wanted?

Because she didn't like her. That's why. She was a friend of Rudy's. That much she had gathered. And she knew what she had done to the boy. She knew about how she had kidnapped him and shot him in the chest. Now she knew that Rudy was under his control thanks to her influence. Rapsheeba had very little reason to trust her. So she supposed she could not blame her.

It shocked her to think this, but Rudy was much easier to make comply than this zoner. It took a long time, but it was really just a matter of treating him very sweetly as much as possible, and help him feel safe around them. Rudy was terrified of him at first, especially her. But now he feels no qualms about sleeping next to her.

Rapsheeba, on the other hand, was going to be more difficult to deal with. Time limit aside, there was the fact that, unlike with Rudy, Rapsheeba knew that she had planned for this. She and Vinnie had been so careful with Rudy, to ensure that he thought that this whole thing was coincidental. She had forgotten to ensure the same thing for Rapsheeba. It was too late at this point to make it look like it was an accident.

She would figure out something to do with her, though. There had to be some way of making her speak. And if sweet talking didn't work, then she supposed she had no choice but to get more aggressive with her. Not that she was complaining, of course.

"For the last fucking itme, I'm not telling you a damn thing!" Rapsheeba's body trembled as she shouted this. From fear? From anger? It was hard to say. But there was no mistaking the tension that radiated from those narrowed eyes. "So just go fuck yourself!"

There was a flicker in Terry's eyes. That, to her, seemed to warrent a more firm approach. With her teeth clenched tightly, a slight snarl appearing on her face, the red-haired woman moved in closer to the zoner. She adopted a slightly more hostile stance, her body crouched forward, her movements more rigid than they were before.

Rapsheeba appeared to notice the change in her demeanor and she began struggling to get away. She pulled her head back, pressing herself as far away as possible. She did not really get anywhere doing this. She was only making a fool out of herself. It would have made Terry chuckle if she weren't already irritated by the zoner's lack of cooperation.

She didn't want to get physical. She would have rather avoided that. But perhaps it was her only option now. If words weren't enough to get Rapsheeba to talk, then maybe if she got a little rougher, she might crack.

Not that Rudy could hear what was going on down here, anyway. Vinnie was to be sure that he did not come close enough to hear.

Once she closed gap between her and the zoner, she lashed out towards her and grabbed onto her face tightly. Rapsheeba let out a yelp of surprise and tried to yank her head back. Terry responded by keeping a tight grip on her face, her fingernails digging into her skin. She put her face close to hers, glaring at her, baring her teeth. Rapsheeba slowly froze in place and just simply stared up at her in fear and horror.

"I have been trying to be nice with you. I don't see what's so hard about answering my questions." Terry attempted to keep her voice calm. But this was a difficult task, considering just how much she was getting worked up already. "Oh don't look at me that way. You could have avoided this whole mess if you had just told me what I wanted to know."

Rapsheeba jerked her head back, making a weak attempt to free herself. "And I told you, there's no fucking way that I am going to tell you stuff like that! It's none of your business how we zoners..."

Terry growled at this and she pressed her nails further against Rapsheeba's face. The zoner let out a yelp as she practically pierced the skin at this point. She wouldn't be surprised if she started to draw blood any moment now. "I see you just want to continue making this difficult." She forced a sigh out through her nostrils as she shook her head slowly. "Typical... Rudy was this stubborn as well, but at least he sees reason now."

"That's because you brainwashed him!" There was a flash of anger on the zoner's face, showing mostly in her narrowed eyes. "I don't know how you did it, but you managed to rob him of his innocense! You monster!"

Terry shook her head. "He is here because he wants to be." She gestured towards herself. "Me and Vinnie did not harm a hair on that boy's body. All we did was take care of him. And he's come to trust us completely." She used her now free hand to gently stroke along the top of Rapsheeba's head. "And if he can come to trust us, so can you. Really now, it's not so hard to..."

Rapsheeba hissed at her before opening her mouth and lobbing a spit wad in her direction. Terry flinched as she felt it hit her cheek and stroll down slowly. It didn't feel all that damp. At least, not as much as it should have. But considering it was chalk, she was not surprised. Snarling, she wiped it away with her hand and glared down at the zoner.

She raised her hand up, getting ready to strike the zoner. Rapsheeba let out a small squeak and she, just like before, tried to struggle to get away. She pushed herself even further back away, her head twisting from side to side. Terry kept her hand raised, poised to strike her across the head. Rapsheeba looked up at her fearfully and soon froze altogether, squeezing her eyelids shit as she waited for the blow...

...which never came. Terry tried to release her fury against his zoner, but she just could not bring herself to do anything. Her arm remained frozen in place.

But the reason why she stopped had nothing to do with feeling sympathy for this zoner. Oh gawd no... It instead related to something else a little more...interesting. As she stared down at the zoner, her breathing becoming ragged and sharp, several thoughts raced through her mind. And then an idea popped in. Something quite devious and cruel, she would admit. But if it were to get results...

"I think you will end up staying with us for a while." Terry said softly, devoid of the previous anger that she held. Rapsheeba looked at her in confusion as the woman lowered her hand to her side. "I will make sure that Rudy is able to get you something to eat or drink." She raised her finger up. "But...!"

Rapsheeba cringed, as though she sensed the catch that went along with this.

"You won't be having any of it." Terry gave a small grin as she watched Rapsheeba's face start to lose some of its color. "I will keep the food stored in some place cold. Don't worry. But you won't be eating or drinking anything. Not right away."

"F-For how long...?" Rapsheeba asked, her ton relatively weak.

"Oh I'm not sure... Twenty four hours?" Terry waved her hand dismissively to the side. "But I think you will do fine for three days without any food or water. It shouldn't be..."

"Wh-What? No! Please..." Rapsheeba cried out loudly, her body shaking. "Y-You can't...!"

Terry gave her a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow. "Are you ready to tell me just how you zoners manage to reproduce, then?"

Rapsheeba looked as though she was struggling to speak. But ultimately, she just sealed her mouth shut and lowered her head. Still stubborn as always... Terry frowned at this, giving her an icy cold glare.

"Then starvation it is."

Rapsheeba's eyes widened in horror.

sss

Biclops furrowed his eyebrows. He wished that he could have been more of a help earlier. He wished he could have given some better information. Something to ease their minds. But..how could he when he himself had no information to give?

It was times like these when Biclops wished he was more vigilant. He sometimes would forget how much Rudy and Penny had relied on him in the past for information. And now that a zoner had gone missing and he still had no information to divulge... He had never felt so useless before in his life.

There was still a chance at least. If he were to just try something to gather information, maybe he could find something worthwhile. Even just the tiniest bit of information would be enough. He just needed to figure out the right method to do it.

That would not be easy, however. It would require really thinking about it and try to weigh in his options and what could be the best choice. He would have to sit down for a while and think...and yet he wasn't sure if he could do that. Not while Rapsheeba's life is on the line. And possibly Rudy's, if he was taken by the same person.

The giant flinched at the thought of Rudy. He had been missing for a long while now, and he was really starting to miss that little guy. He hoped that he was doing all right. Especially with his heart condition and...

Biclops grunted, gritting his teeth. He struggled hard not to think about that. He didn't want to be reminded of what he had been informed of. Even just the slight memory of Rudy's chest scar was enough to make his blood both boil and freeze at the same time. That was one of the few times where he really wished he could have gone into the Real World. He would have loved to make that woman pay for what she did to Rudy Tabootie.

But...that wouldn't solve anything, now would it? No, he was better off just trying to move beyond that and concentrating on the now. He needed to figure out how to gather information and quickly. But..how was he going to...

Then he paused, his eyes widening. Thoughts sifted through his mind fast. There was something that he could try...though he had rarely done it before. It was...something that he would much rather avoid. But if that meant a chance at finding Rudy and Rapsheeba... Well, anything was worth a risk at this point.

Even this.

Biclops turned his head and looked down the hallway, which dug deeper into the catacombs of the mine. He gritted his teeth, sucking in a sharp breath. Then he exhaled slowly. It was going to be hard to walk over there. But he knew that he had to. This could be his one chance to help Penny and Snap find their lost friends.

Feeling a stiffness in his muscles, the large zoner began to make his way down the corridor. Each step was heavy and rigid, and it took him a while to make himself move forward. But despite his troubles, he managed to maintain a good, steady pace as he headed down the hallway. At least this way, he would ensure an increased chance of finding Rapsheeba and Rudy. Or at least...he hoped so...

sss

"Okay, you can take a break."

Finally... Vinnie wasn't entirely sure how long he could have kept up the charade while Terry was gone. Not that he didn't do so bad, if he said so himself. It was just... He was getting increasingly uncomfortable around Rudy. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't dare mention it around Terry. They had more important things to focus on, anyway.

At least Rudy had fallen asleep. The boy claimed to have been really sleepy for some reason and wanted to rest. The truth was Vinnie had slipped him some sleeping pills, or rather, powder of sleeping pills, into the drink that he gave him. He just needed a break and the little brat was much easier to watch when he was sleeping.

The drugs would keep him out for a little while. Give him and Terry a little bit of peace. After all, they deserved abreak after how all they had done for the boy. He hoped that Rudy was genuinely grateful for their help; they could have easily left him for dead.

"I see Rudy decided to take a nap." Terry said, her voice having some kind of tone to it.

Vinnie flinched slightly before nodding his head once. "Yeah, the little tyke just passed out.." He didn't need to tell her what he did. It was not a bit of information that was all that important for Terry to be aware of. All she needed to know was Rudy was asleep.

But the look in her eyes suggested that she didn't buy it. Vinnie struggled not to swallow or do anything that would give himself away. He knew that Terry would not be happy to find out that he had drugged him just to get out of duty of watching him. To try to avoid getting into trouble, Vinnie tried his best to keep a straight face.

Terry soon looked away, focusing her eyes on the child. The previous look was gone. It was hard to say if she really had decided he did nothing, or if she was just choosing to ignore it for the time being. Vinnie figured it was best not to try to get an answer for that.

"After he wakes up, send him on another trip into ChalkZone." Terry stated.

"What? Already?" Vinnie looked at her in shock. He licked his lips a little as he stared down at Rudy before looking back at Terry. "I-Is that really a good idea? With his injured leg and fever..."

"He was able to do it before, wasn't he?" Terry raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, yes...but.."

"Then he can do it again. Don't worry, though. I won't be having him go that far. I just need him to draw some chalk food and water." Terry narrowed her eyes slightly. "We're going to need it for our little...guest." She gestured to one side. "We can't have her dying on us. It would be too risky to get Rudy to nab another zoner. And who knows how long that fever will last us."

Vinnie flinched at this. He was full aware that part of what is helping Rudy be more compliant was the fever. True, their actions have helped Rudy develop Stockholm Syndrome. But the fever is what was driving the 'okay I'll get a friend of mine for you' behavior. Rudy was not thinking clearly. Once the fever goes away...

Which was why they were better off keeping that Rapsheeba character here and try to squeeze the information out of her. They couldn't accompany Rudy into ChalkZone and if he were to recover when he was in there and flee... Vinnie shook the thought out of his head. At least they had Rudy back with them and under their supervision and they had a zoner with them now as well.

Which reminded him...

"Were you able to get anything out of her?" Vinnie raised his hands up to his side. "Like...anything that we could find useful?"

Terry sighed and shook her head. "Nothing. She is more stubborn than Rudy was before."

"Yeeesh..." Vinnie flinched at this. "That is hard to imagine..."

Terry nodded slowly. "Which is why I am going to attempt to starve her for a few days." She gave a small smirk as she tapped a finger against her chin. "I do think she will be more cooperative after day three when I bring her in some food. And if she refuses, she'll have to wait even longer."

Vinnie widened his eyes in horror at this. Starving the zoner? That seemed rather..harsh, didn't it? Not that he was too concerned. Zoners weren't humans after all. So it didn't really matter if they were hurt or not. But still, he couldn't imagine doing something as cruel to a zoner as making them go hungry. That was just excessive...

Terry noticed the look in his eyes, noticing his unspoken question. "And no, Vinnie. I am not going to let her die." She raised her hand up in gesture. "If she does not eat still after enough days have passed, I'll let her have a little something to eat. Just enough to prevent her from keeling over. Then the process will repeat."

Vinnie still didn't like the sound of this idea. It seemed a little too much. He was certain that there had to be a better way of getting Rapsheeba to speak. They didn't have to do anything cruel with Rudy before he divulged some information to them. They just needed to be patient and he ended up telling them himself.

Then again, maybe they don't have that much time. Getting information quickly would certainly be beneficial... And besides, he was not about to go up against Terry. He was fully aware of what she had done to Rudy before. He did not want to be on her bad side.

And once more, at least Rapsheeba was just a zoner. Doing this stuff to a mere zoner, something made of chalk and not human, or even an animal in the truest of senses, did not really seem all that bad. No one was really going to make a big deal of it. Who was going to care if a drawing was tormented? He and Terry could do whatever they wanted to her and it wouldn't matter.

He smiled slightly at the thought. Maybe it would be so bad after all. He did have a lot of pent up anger regarding Rudy. Perhaps he could take it out on Rapsheeba... He'd have to be careful not to hurt her so badly as Rudy made them promise they wouldn't hurt her. But that didn't mean that they could have some...fun with her.

Vinnie was almost horrified by some of the thoughts that swept through his mind. Thoughts that he'd never thought to do himself before until now. It was easy for him to realize just why he was thinking this stuff. With Rapsheeba being non-human, there was so much more he could do to her, get away with doing with her... And her being just a zoner took away nearly all the guilt that he'd have if it were a human.

Terry stared down at him, appearing to notice the look in his eyes. Slowly, she gave a small smirk to him, a twinkle glowing from her eyes. "Well I suppose that my way isn't the only one that we can try..." Terry folded her arms to her chest. "And we do want to know about certain...things with zoners..."

Vinnie nodded his head slowly, smiling back at her. "That is correct..."

Terry gave a quick chortle at this. "Well then..." She motioned her hand towards Vinnie. "Perhaps you should make your...attempt."

Vinnie was a little surprsed that Terry seemed fine with this. But of course, they needed the information and they were not bound by any moral codes regarding the fact that this was a zoner. So long as they did not do anything permanent and made sure that Rapsheeba spoke not a word about it, Rudy wouldn't know and they wouldn't have broken their promise with him. Perhaps later, they will tell the truth...but for now, it was best to keep Rudy trusting in them.

Knowing that Terryw as going to take over, Vinnie was about to turn around and leave. He really wanted to get started... But then he paused for a moment. He frowned deeply before he turned and stared at Terry. Licking his lips once, he asked, "...so what am I allowed to do with her...?"

Terry raised her hand to rub the bottom of her chin for a few moments. She stood there for a few seconds, pondering the question. Then she just shrugged her shoulders and stated, "Do whatever you would like to her. So long as it isn't permanent..."

Vinnie blinked at this, and then gave a dark smile at this before he slowly walked away.

sss

Snap wasn't really sure how he felt about this. Sure it's been two days and there hadn't been much of an incident. But still, it worried him deeply that Biclops would even consider doing something like this.

But he did say that the red chalk tends to be quite vigilant. Behind that aggressive behavior of theirs lied some rather keen senses, and an extraordinary ability to track. Why else would it have been able to locate a new creator in Reggie? And the fact that it could move around on its own could work...

Snap was still quite uncomfortable with the idea, and so was anyone else who had heard of it. Not many in ChalkZone were very fond of the red chalk, knowing full well what it had done before. The first incident was pretty minor, but when Reggie had the red chalk... Snap shuddered, not wanting to remember the kind of trouble that boy had caused everyone. At least they were able to stop it pretty quickly before things got too out of hand.

Snap was shocked that Biclops would even suggest that at all. Well the giant did make a good case, making it clear that so long as Penny did not hold the red chalk for more than a minute, it would be enough to prevent the red chalk from latching onto her. And to make simple drawings to reduce the threat level that they would provide.

Penny was eventually convinced that this might work. The red chalk would want to either find another creator, possibly Rudy as it had tried to control him before, or hunt down a zoner to attack. Both of these could be used to their advantage, they realized.

So what Penny ended up doing was draw a simple creature with a sense of smell. It was then provided with something with Rudy's scent and then Rapsheeba's scent. The red chalk creation immediately zipped off without attempting to attack anyone.

Despite what it seemed, this did not mean that the red chalk was tamed. It was still dangerous and anything created with the red chalk was equally as dangerous, if not more so. But its instincts could be used to control it on some level, and the red chalk's instinct to find humans to help it create things was strong. Sure it had Penny, but the red chalk would have remembered Rudy and likely favored him over her.

There was really no evidence so far that this was working. They didn't know if the red chalk was still even looking for Rudy. Snap knew just how determined the red chalk could be, considering that it waited months for Reggie to pick it up. So just two days wouldn't be enough for it to suddenly lose interest.

But what if it attacked someone in the meantime? What if something were to go horribly wrong with this plan? Biclops himself even admitted that this was highly dangerous and could result in an innocent zoner getting hurt. He was only willing to take the risk because Rudy and now Rapsheeba were missing. And the potentiality of another creator in ChalkZone did complicate things...

This realization made Snap's face go pale for several moments. What if this new creator is the one who gets the red chalk? What if the red chalk chose them instead of keeping looking for Rudy? So many horrible thoughts raced through his mind.

The only thing that helped him to settle down was the fact that, if anything really did happen regarding the red chalk, it would be all over ChalkZone news. Word spreads fast here, and if the red chalk creation did deviate from the plan, if it attacked a zoner or if it had found another creator, he would have known about it very quickly.

It also helped that Penny thought to input a tracking device deep into the red chalk zoner's body. This enabled them to keep tabs on the creature, knowing exactly where it was. He hadn't asked Penny yet where the red chalk creature was; she hadn't been in ChalkZone yet. But he assumed that it was still in ChalkZone; that's where it always was before.

But perhaps something changed. Maybe it did find something. Or maybe another zoner will locate something interesting. The odds were slim, but still there. Snap couldn't help but try to hold onto the hope that something will change very soon. He just...had to keep believing in that.

For the time being, he was just resting in his treehouse. He wanted to relax a little. Besides, Penny wouldn't be able to enter ChalkZone for another couple hours. School and all. Originally he was back in the city, but too many zoners were asking him questions and he just...wasn't in the mood for any of it. So he came out here to settle down.

He heard a small whimper beside him and he looked down at Blocky. The zoner was laying on the ground, curled up into a small ball. He had followed him earlier, quite frightened and unnerved by the whole thing. The fact that he was constantly hounded with questions as well did not do him any favors. It got worse when a few zoners even went as far as say that he was the one who took Rapsheeba. Snap wanted to slap those zoners in the faces, but right now, he wanted to focus on poor little Blocky.

At least here, he could get a little peace and quiet. Away from the clamor of the city and in a more isolated area where he had someone to comfort him. Normally, he'd hang around Rapsheeba during this time, or his other friends. But since Rapsheeba was gone and his other friends were scattered at the moment, he was the only one left.

Not that he minded watching out for Blocky. He was his creation mate, after all. Helping him was the least that he could do for him. And besides, seeing Blocky sleep somewhat peacefully was much better than how it had been before. Blocky needed the peaceful sleep for sure.

He still wasn't really sure what he was going to do when Penny got here, though. Aside from asking the question, of course. It didn't matter how she answered. Yes or no, he still wasn't really sure, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration. If they could only get more information... Location would be nice, but there was still quite a bit they needed to know before they could successfully pull off a rescue.

And what of that creator who took Rapsheeba? They still didn't know if she was even with Rudy. This meant that there was the likelihood that they would find just one of them, but the other would still be missing.

And they didn't even know who was behind all of this. Terry was a likely suspect, but it could still be someone entirely new. The thought made Snap's blood run cold. The idea that someone else was behind this, someone whom none of them knew... He tried to shake the thought out of his mind, not wanting to think about it.

For the time being, he focused on just being here for Blocky. He reached down and he gently stroked along his head, helping to soothe him further. The rectangular zoner was still asleep and he hardly reacted to his touch, except with a simple stir and a small groan. Snap smiled slightly at this before frowning softly and looking away, staring out towards the window.

He enjoyed the sight of the permanent sunset sky. But it was not enough to make him forget what was going on. If anything, it only served as a cruel reminder to him. Seeing this part of the sky easily reminded him of Rudy, and he had been missing for so long and...

Now Rapsheeba...

Snap struggled to keep the burning tears from dripping down his face. He clenched his teeth, seething through them a bit. He did his best to keep his burning stomach in check, not wanting his stomach to accidentally release its contents or anything.

Perhaps he should try to rest or something. He was not going to do himself any favors if he just stayed up and worried so much about something he couldn't do much about at the moment. At least he and Penny were trying to do something about it. That was something at the very least.

So he tried to close his eyes and just settle down...

But then something caught his attention. His eyes opened a little wider when he could hear the sound of footsteps just outside. He looked over, blinking his eyes slowly. A part of him wanted to just stay with Blocky and go to sleep. But another part wanted to go over and see what was happening. Something was clearly going on.

Curiosity soon got the better of him. Moving himself away from Blocky carefully, the blue and white zoner headed over towards the window. He moved a bit sluggishly, not realizing just how tired he really was, so mentally exhausted from everything that they had done.

Despite this, he did make it to the window shortly. He positioned himself in front of it and laid his hands upon it. He pressed his head against it and he looked left and right, trying to see just what was going on. His eyes immediately widened at what he saw.

It was Lazlo, the bearded purple baker that had gotten his head stuck in that red chalk window that Rudy drew before. The zoner was wobbling about as though he was injured, but a quick analysis of his body showed that he was not hurt in any way. But the look in his eyes... It was as though he had seen a ghost of some kind. Snap watched the baker zoner stumble about for a few moments before he attempted to make contact.

"Lazlo?" Snap called out after he opened up the window and stuck his head out. "What are you doing here? And why do you look as though you witnessed something terrible?" When Lazlo did not respond, Snap pushed his head further out the window. "Lazlo, please answer me. Y-Y-You're scaring me... I..."

He stopped when he saw Lazlo lift his head up and look over at him. The baker zoner adopted a crouched posture, his hands fumbling over each other. His eyes were wide and angled in sharply in a somewhat drooping manner. Hard to describe, but it was a similiar expression he had given with that Vincent fellow before.

And that was enough to tell Snap that it was serious. Lazlo was usually more calm than that. Only something of real urgency would make him give that kind of expression. Snap licked his lips slowly and swallowed nervously. He could only begin to imagine what sort of things Lazlo had seen to make him look at him in such a manner. He was almost too terrified to know.

But he knew that he had to know. He needed to know what happened to him. What if it was of relevance? What if he had found something important? What if this could help in their investigation? And if there was another threat looming about, shouldn't they know about it?

Despite his nervousness at the answer, Snap said to the baker zoner, "Please...tell me what is going on. Why are you so scared...?"

Lazlo still looked uncertain of how to answer. He just stood there, looking left and right, his teeth gritted tightly. Snap understood if he was feeling scared. So much shit was happening lately and... But Lazlo needed to tell him what was going on. If he didn't, then...

That was when Lazlo finally opened his mouth to speak. And what he spoke next caused ice to shoot through Snap's head.

"I-I found Rudy..."

Snap's eyes widened in shock.


	2. Falter

"He did what?"

"I'm telling you, that's what he said!"

"But how is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but we should check it out!"

"I suppose you are right..."

A part of Penny wasn't entirely sure if this was a good idea or not. Something about it just...didn't seem right to her. Not that she felt that the baker zoner was untrustworthy or anything. There was just...something that was causing her body to fill with anxiety regarding this. It worried her deeply.

But what if he was telling the truth? What if he wasn't just seeing things? Maybe he really had seen Rudy in ChalkZone somewhere. Maybe he did spot him wandering around, creating something, and then leaving. Maybe Rudy really had run from him, even going as far as fight back against Lazlo to ensure that he couldn't follow him.

But that didn't make much sense. Why would Rudy try to hurt Lazlo? Okay not hurt, but push him back? What would he game from that? Wouldn't he have tried to at least talk to Lazlo?

And why wouldn't he have tried to reunite with them? If Rudy was in ChalkZone, then he should have tried to find them. He knew his way around this place. Even more so than her in some areas. Surely he would have been able to track them down. He was their best friend, after all. Why wouldn't he try to find them? Didn't he care about them? Of course he did... Which was what made this so confusing.

When Lazlo revealed that he and the other zoners in that area had noticed that Rudy was acting really strange and wobbly, Penny had a feeling it could be a fever. Maybe Rudy was delusional. Maybe he could not recognize who they were, or where he was. That would explain why he chose to run off like that. It did help put Penny's mind somewhat at ease. But not all the way. There was still the issue with the fever.

How could he have gotten it? Infection? The cold? Poisoned? So many thoughts raced through her mind on the possibilities. It was clear that something had happened to Rudy. And they needed to find out what it was.

Though a part of her was overwhelmed at finally hearing about Rudy after so long, she could not let herself delve into it too much. Now wasn't the time for her to be thinking about that stuff. She would have plenty of time later to really dwell on the fact that he was alive, if not sick. Right now, she needed to focus on finding a way to bring him back. If they didn't bring him to a hospital soon, he would end up getting even worse. And that was not something that they could afford.

And there was another problem. Just because they found Rudy wondering around in here... That didn't mean that... someone else hadn't caused this... What if that kidnapper was around here, too...?

Penny gave a cold shudder at this. She knew what had to be done. She turned her head and she stared down at Snap. He looked up at her in confusion, tilting his head to one side. She paused for a moment, trying to think of how to word it. Within seconds, she just spilled out what needed to be said.

"We need to tell the citizens of ChalkZone City about..."

Snap cut her off. "But, Penny, they already know." He raised his hands up at his sides. "What is the point in telling them again?"

"No, that's not it." Penny shook her head a couple of times. "I meant we need to tell them that there might be someone else in here." She frowned softly as she looked around, clenching her teeth. "Rudy's kidnapper, whoever it turns out to be... They might be here with him..."

"But how would they...oh..!" Snap put his hands to his mouth upon realizing just what Penny was talking about. The small blue and white zoner stared at Penny in horror for a few moments, letting this information settle in the back of his mind. Then he suddenly jumped into the air, waving his arms about. "Oy caloy! We gotta do something!"

"Shhh!" Penny motioned with her hands quickly. "Settle down! You don't want to draw attention to us, do you?"

Snap blushed sheepishly at this. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sorry about that..."

Penny turned her head and she stared towards the city. They weren't too far away from it. It should only take a few minutes walking to get there. After they arrive, they could deliver the news to the zoners so that they were aware. They needed to know about this. They needed to be prepared just in case something...weird...happened.

From there, their only option was to go in the direction that Rudy had run. At least according to Lazlo and the few other zoners who had apparently noticed him. It was not a guarantee that they'd find him. But at least they would be able to get a better idea of where he was and just how far away. Perhaps she could even get the coordinates and map it out and hopefully match it up to something in the Real World and...

"Hey Penny, look at that!" Snap called out. When Penny looked, she saw that he had one of his arms moved upwards and his rounded hand now pointed down in one direction. "What's going on there?"

Penny's eyes widened when she saw a large group of zoners gathered not far from them. They weren't particularly angry or anything. But the way that they moved over towards them... It caused her gut to twist up inside, and she found herself taking a small step back. She wondered if this had anything to do with Rudy's sudden appearance in ChalkZone.

A few moments later, she learned that she was, in fact, correct.

"Why is Rudy Tabootie wandering around aimlessly? What is wrong with him?"

"Should we be worried?"

"Has he gone rogue like those past creators did?"

Penny and Snap narrowed their eyes at that last comment. The idea of these zoners thinking that Rudy had turned on them so easily... It made them burn up inside. How could they think for a moment that...

Another zoner spoke up, halting their thought process. "I remember seeing some kind of shape earlier, around when Rapsheeba disappeared. Could it have been him? Could the Great Creator be the one who kidnapped one of our own?"

At this, the zoners in the group reacted in fear, shock, and anger. They began to talk amongst each other. A few sounded as though they agreed with this, stating that maybe Rudy had changed far more than any of them realized due to Terry's actions. Others weren't so willing to think that, and argued back that it had to have been something else.

While this went on, all Snap and Penny could do was watch. They exchanged glanced with each other a few times, but kept most of their attention on the confused and frightened zoners before them. They nervously clenched their teeth, feeling their minds race as they listened to the zoners speak more on this.

To think that some of these zoners are so willing to think that Rudy had kidnapped Rapsheeba... They just couldn't believe it. Rudy had never done anything so horrible in the past. And considering the fact that he himself was kidnapped for a time, that made this statement make even less sense. Why in the world would Rudy even dream about subjecting another person to such a horrible fate?

But they couldn't be too angry with them. They knew that these zoners were just confused and frightened. There was so little information out regarding what was going on that... Well, of course they would be quick about making judgments. They just wanted an explanation is all.

After Penny managed to reduce the burning feeling in her mind and keep herself calm once more, she made her way over towards the zoners. They stopped their speaking and they turned their heads to her, waiting for her to speak. Penny was quiet for a few moments before she finally opened her mouth to respond to them.

"We are still trying to shed light on the issue. We apologize if we cannot give satisfactory answers to your questions. For now, the best thing would be to stay on your guard. If you spot anything suspicious, report it to us and the ChalkZone City police."

She paused for a moment and looked at each of the zoners in the small group before them. She wanted to make sure that they were following what she was saying. When she found that they were, she continued.

"In the meantime, me and Snap will follow the trail that the baker, Lazlo, had given us. We will try to see if we can determine anything from there. If we find anything, we will let you know." Penny raised her finger up. "Oh and before I forget, I should add this as well. If you feel that you are in danger for any reason, like if you feel as though you are being followed, get into your homes immediately." She lowered her finger as she frowned. "We don't want any further kidnappings if we can avoid it."

The zoners exchanged glances with each other before looking back at Penny. A few were frowning slightly, but overall, they seemed to approve of this plan. Most of them nodded their heads and even those that did not hadn't attempted to really contradict what she had said.

Satisfied that things have been worked out, Penny made a dismissive gesture to them. She did not need to tell them anything for them to understand what she was trying to say. The zoners immediately understood and they disbanded, even if a few of them were unsure about the whole thing. Penny watched as the zoners walked away, a few a bit more obviously reluctant, before she turned her attention to Snap.

"Which way did Lazlo say he had seen Rudy go?" She asked.

Snap paused for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He then pointed down in one direction slowly, a bit unsure. "I think...that way, maybe?"

Penny looked down where he was pointing to, noticing right away that it led straight out of town. She frowned her eyes a little, and then nodded her head. She looked back down at Snap and gave him a single command. "Let's go, then."

sss

Terry looked over as she saw Vinnie heading towards her. While she did this, she could feel Rudy's head push up against her on the couch. It rested upon her lap, his ribs rising and falling with each soft breath. She moved her hands along his hair and his side a little. Her eyes narrowing as she looked back in Vinnie's direction, she said, "Well? How did it go?"

Vinnie gritted his teeth and growled. Terry raised an eyebrow at this. That didn't really sound like much of a success, now did it? She had to wonder just what Rapsheeba had said this time. Did she just say no? Or did she get more physical?

"We need to try something else. This just isn't working. She's as stubborn as ever! I..."

"Shhh...!" Terry pressed a finger against her lips for a few moments. "You don't want to wake up Rudy, now do you?" She gave him a disciplinary glare. She glanced down at Rudy to make sure that he hadn't yet woken up. "We don't want him to overhear any of this."

Vinnie flinched for a moment, realizing what he had nearly done. "Oh... I'm sorry..." He gritted his teeth for a few moments, folding his hands behind his back. He gave another nervous glance to Rudy before he continued speaking, this time, making an effort to ensure that his voice wasn't too loud. "Anyway, I think we need to try another approach. Even with the threat of starvation, she is unwilling to divulge any information."

"Well it is of a private matter. So I can really blame her for that. Still..." Terry frowned at this. Although they could just forcefeed her in case she still refused to talk, she would much rather have things go much more smoothly than that. If the zoner refused to keep talking... "Rudy would be less likely to do anything if we take precautions to ensure that the zoners could be saved."

Vinnie rolled his eyes at this. "They can just be redrawn. I don't get why he's so worried about them." He motioned his hands forward, gesturing with them. "I mean... they are just drawings. Who cares if a few of them are offed? I mean, I'm not going to go out of my way to hurt them that badly or anything, but..."

Terry nodded her head at this. "That is true. And before, I wouldn't have cared, either. But..." She looked down at Rudy once more, biting her lip. "We both know how clever this boy can be. And we both know what would happen if we simply killed him off." She looked back at Vinnie. "Trying to ensure the zoners could be protected, preserved in a way, may help keep him from trying to fight back against us."

"We could still get locked up in jail." Vinnie said with a frown. "I wouldn't put it past the little brat to speak up as soon as someone managed to find him."

"I don't think so. So long as we treat him nicely and we keep him convinced we saved his life, he may not report us. If anything, he could make everyone believe that we really were trapped and that there was nothing we could have done to contact anyone." Terry smiled at this. "That would be enough to keep us out of jail...right?" She turned her head to one side. "Even if I get hauled back, maybe I could be let off early for good behavior."

Vinnie slapped himself in the face at this comment. "That's just wishful thinking and you know that." He moved his hand down slowly, stretching his face down with it. As soon as reached the bottom, he released his hand, causing his face to 'snap back', in a sense. "I mean...do you really think something like that would work? I don't think the police work like that."

Terry shrugged her shoulders. "There's no loss in hopeful thinking, right?" She slowly narrowed her eyes. "But you are right. We do need to be careful about this." She glanced down at Rudy once more. She stroked along his hair, her fingers running through the strands. She could feel each breath the boy gave, and she noticed the small smile on his sleeping face. "It would be easier to just kill him, but..." She narrowed her eyes further and gave out a sigh, turning her head away. "That would land us in more trouble if we were caught."

She noticed the look that Vinnie was giving her as she said this. She pulled her head back a little, feeling a sense of confusion. Why was he looking at her this way? Why did he look like he had seen something strange about her? She wanted to speak up, to say something, anything. But all she could do was just stare at Vinnie, clenching her teeth as she waited for him to speak up.

After a few moments of him not speaking, just staring, she asked, "Why are you looking at me that way?"

Vinnie continued to glare at her for a moment. Then he took a small step towards her. When he spoke, it was tinged with an accusatory tone, but mostly confusion and perplexion. "You're...starting to care about him, aren't you?"

Terry's eyes widened at this. She could feel a jolt inside of her chest. She seethed through her clenched teeth as she recoiled back. "No..Of course not... I mean, why would I care about him? He's just a little brat who had been getting in my way...our way...for too long. Why the fuck would I..."

Vinnie approached her yet again, taking slow, steady steps. "I've seen the way you look at him. And the way you speak when you said we can't kill him..." Vinnie frowned slightly further. "I'd say there's more reason you have not to kill him than just the fear of getting caught."

Terry spluttered at this. She could not form a coherent sentence after that. Her mind spun at Vinnie's accusations, and she could feel her stomach churning at the possibility. How... How dare Vinnie say that she would even think to... There was no way that she would ever... She struggled to keep herself under control, not wanting to do anything to wake up Rudy. It was a miracle that he hadn't woken up now. If they lost their hold over him...

Terry forced a sigh out through her partially open mouth. She could feel her body start to shake a little at this accusation and she couldn't help but flinch. She had to keep herself under better control. She had been able to fool Rudy all this time. It would be terrible if she ended up losing all of the progress they had made from the simple mistake of not controlling her emotions. If she could stifle it around Rudy, then there was no reason that she couldn't do the same with Vinnie.

Besides, right now wasn't really a good time to be arguing about this, now was it? It was so easy to do that... Vinnie could keep accusing her, and she could bring up the times she thought she had seen him start to care about Rudy instead of seeing him as what he really was to them: a tool.

For now, it was best to just focus on what was going on now. They needed to refocus their attention on what to do with Rapsheeba. They needed to get that information out of her as soon as possible. They could easily just forcefeed her in case she does attempt to starve herself instead of giving information. But that would only prolong her stubbornness. And she might even use that to her advantage, making them feed her so that she wouldn't end up dying. She could keep this up for a while and...

Her eyes then flickered. There was something that they could try. They had thought about it before and Vinnie had seemed ready to do it. For some reason, he had backed out and opted for more traditional interrogating instead. Obviously it hadn't wrked.

But despite the...moral issues involved with that idea, she did feel that they were really onto something there. Even if she was disgusted by the idea, and she knew Vinnie was too, and that they would probably never feel clean again after do it, it could be enough to jog something in that stubborn zoner. Maybe it would be enough to break her front and make her speak.

In the end, there was really only one way to find out. As much as it filled her with confusing thoughts, they would have to 'dive right in' as the saying goes. Take the risk. If it could produce a result, then it was worth it, wasn't it?

"Vinnie." Terry spoke up at last. "Do you remember what you said before? About that thing you were going to try?"

Vinnie glared at this. "Why are you jumping topics? We really need to discuss..."

"No, we don't." Terry cut him off, shaking her head from side to side. "We need to focus on that little zoner. So now.." She tilted her head to one side as she glared at him softly. "Do you or do you not remember about..."

"Yes, I do? Okay? Satisfied?" Vinnie let out a small groan, his fingers curling in against each other. He stayed like this for a few moments before he let out a small sigh. "Anyway, what about it? Are you going to suggest that I try it again? You know how we both feel about..."

"Yes, I know. Even knowing that we can get away with it, even if we both have the urge to slap that zoner, we both don't want to go to far. Even if it's just t o keep ourselves out of potential danger. But look..." Terry narrowed her eyes into slits. "We can't let this go on forever. I know that zoner is just going to force us in a state where we feed her so she doesn't die, and she gets to stay quiet. We can't allow that. We need to show her that things don't work like that around here." She closed her eyes for a moment before she reopened them. "And you know what that entails..."

Vinnie stared at her, his eyes widened, a slight hint of horror resting on his face. "Yes. I know.." He looked off to the side, licking his lips slowly. "I'm not...fond of the idea, I admit."

"Neither am I." Terry agreed. "But we need to try something and fast. If we don't, we could..."

Vinnie nodded his head slowly. "I know... I know." The short man stood there for a few moments, rubbing the back of his head. He looked as if he was trying to contemplate what he should do. He soon gritted his teeth and said, "...I think I'll just...give it a go. I don't want to waste any further time." He looked over towards the corridor that led to where Rapsheeba was being held. "I'll give it a try."

Terry gave him a sympathetic look, something that she rarely gave. This was going to be tough, she knew, but if it gave them results...

"Good luck."

Vinnie nodded his head. "Yeah...I'm going to need it for this..."

"Agreed."

sss

The female singer zoner groaned softly as she rubbed her stomach, smacking her dry lips. She could feel weakness spreading throughout her body. Her stomach growled loudly, causing her to flinch. It had gotten so unbearable, and she was tempted to try to bang up against her cage bars just to get to the food nearby.

The only thing keeping her from doing that is that she did not want to look like she relied on them for survival. She knew that, once she started to consume their food or drink their water, she was more or less surrendering to them. And from there, they could begin to control her more and...

No, she would not allow it. Even if it was going to be incredibly hard, even if she would have to bite her tongue so many times, she had to resist the temptation to eat. She wasn't really sure how long she could hold out, and she knew that she may end up giving into her more animalistic instincts eventually. But at least she could keep those two horrible humans from learning about...that stuff.

It still horrified her that they would want that kind of information. To know the more personal lives of zoners, whether or not they could have children and under what kind of circumstances... The thought caused her blood to chill. She didn't want to start thinking about just what they would do with that information.

When Terry mentioned the breeding program, she was disgusted. She had thought that she could feel her past lunch surging up in her stomach, and it was a miracle that she was able to stop it from spewing out all over the place.

She couldn't believe that Terry had wanted to treat zoners like they were some kind of wild animal or something. Rapsheeba gritted her teeth tightly at this. Zoners were not meant to be kept in cages like this. They were not meant to be kept like pets or caged like zoo animals. They were people. Fully sentient and fully intelligent and aware. They didn't deserve this kind of treatment. Not that these two humans cared. They had made that quite obviously clear.

Rapsheeba felt a sudden bout of dizziness strike through her and she wobbled a bit from side to side. She grabbed onto her head and she rubbed it gently, trying to help herself settle down. She could feel a trembling sensation rush through her body and she thought she could feel herself fall down, even though she was already sitting against the bars. The effects of going hungry was making itself known already, and she knew it was only going to get worse from here.

But she still had to hang on. She had to fight back. Even if it was very difficult, so long as she was able to maintain her dignity and her strong will, she would be able to pull through this. She was not going to surrender that easily.

She raised her head up at the sound of the door opening. She narrowed her eyes, expecting to see Terry this time. Instead, she saw Vinnie, whom she had already seen very recently. Either way, she would have been quite displeased. She hissed softly as she glared at him, showing her teeth. Vinnie just smirked at her as she approached, slow and steady.

Rapsheeba did notice that there was something...different about the way that he walked. It was difficult to tell at first, but as she continued watching him, she began to notice that he was not moving exactly the same as before. And this caused her to become incredibly nervous. She tried her best not to show her fear, but she wasn't able to stop her eyes from widening ever so slightly.

"I see you are surprised to see me again." Vinnie said, breaking the stiff silence that had a hold of them momentarily. "I am back sooner than I expected, I admit."

Rapsheeba nodded her head curtly, seething. "And here I thought I was going to get a nice nap without you and your ugly mug here."

Vinnie gave a quick shudder at this, his eyes widening, and then narrowing. Rapsheeba moved back only slightly, an automatic reaction taht she could not stop. Vinnie appeared to notice this, and it was enough for him. Smiling, he relaxed himself, leaning away a bit. "I have good reason to return."

Rapsheeba rolled her eyes. "Oh really now? That will be fun to listen to." She gave him a sarcastic, dry smile. "What is it? You going to try to sing me a song so that I will 'break'? Or are you going to try that lame tickle torture I've heard some kids do?"

Vinnie stared at her for a few moments, blinking a few times. Then he gave a dark chuckle, his shoulders shaking. "No, I have something very different in mind."

Rapsheeba frowned at him in confusion. "And just what is it you plan to do?"

The lack of an answer and the way that Vinnie looked at her painted a rather horrifying image. She didn't exactly know what he had planned, but she knew right away that it was nothing good. He looked at her like he had saved the 'best' for last. She felt her heart skip a beat when she remembered him talking about having something 'special' planned for her if she did not cooperate. Was this that special thing?

As he continued to draw closer to the cage, she began to notice some of the body language that he was exhibiting was very familiar. Something that she would only see if.. Her eyes widened in horror. No...he could not be thinking of doing that... could he...?

It took only a few moments before Vinnie stopped in front of her cage. She watched as he folded his arms against his chest and smirked down at her. That smile that spread across his face practically set everything around her on icy fire. There were so many hidden promises behind that... And Vinnie looked as though he meant every single one of them.

"Wh-What are you going to do?" Rapsheeba finally asked, licking her lips slowly. She could feel her heart start to beat faster against her chest, and she pressed herself further back against the cage. "Th-That is close enough..."

Vinnie just shook his head at this, his smile growing more twisted as the seconds ticked by. "Oh no.. I'm close enough. Here, let me help with that." Vinnie reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key. At this, Rapsheeba could feel herself pale. She listened to the rattling of the key as he twisted it, and the cage door flew open, hitting against the metal bars. He stood there for a few moments before he began to move further inside.

Rapsheeba scrambled to get away from him. She looked left and right and then she tried to rush past him. It was a slim shot, but if she managed to get around him and get out of this cage, then she might be able to...

But she wasn't fast enough. Before she knew it, Vinnie had grabbed a hold of her and shoved her against the ground. She grunted as she felt her back collide with the hard ground beneath her. She struggled and squirmed from side to side, but she was not able to free herself.

"There, isn't this so much better?" Vinnie asked as he tightened his grip on her, using his weight to hold her against the ground. "Try not to squirm around too much. That'll make this go a lot smoother."

Rapsheeba looked up in horror at Vinnie. She could see the look in his eyes. She had never seen such a complex expression before. Floating around in his mind, she could see that he was both excited for this, in a rather depraved way, but he was also horrified as well. It was as though it was taking so much of his willpower to push himslef through with this.

Not that this hesitation was of any comfort to her. With her heart pounding heavily against her chest, she struggled frantically, hoping to free herself. But it was useless. Vinnie chuckled at her attempts before he leaned in towards her. "Let's see if this persuades you."

sss

Rudy blinked his eyes a few times when he awoke to the sound of whimpering. He blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed them, his blurry vision slowly sharpening up. He lifted his head up, smacking his lips a few times, and looked left and right. For a brief moment, he struggled to remember where he was.

Oh of course, he was still in the cabin with Vinnie and Terry. Huh, what could be causing one of them to cry? That didn't really seem all much like them. Or was it even them at all? The tone was feminine, but something about it didn't seem like it belonged to Terry. But if it wasn't her own voice, then who could be...

Rapsheeba...?

Rudy could feel his heart clench, even with the fact that he was still pretty tired right now. He pushed himself further from the couch and looked at where she was being held. He took in slow, deep breaths as he struggled to calm down his racing mind. The last thing he needed was to get himself too worked up; he was not going to be of much help to anyone if he gave himself a heartattack. There was a logical reason for her crying, he was sure.

Not because of Terry or Vinnie. They had promised they wouldn't harm her. They had been truthful before, and he had little reason to doubt them. Since it couldn't possibly be them, he had to assume that Rapsheeba just had a nightmare. She was probably frightened about being here and he could understand that. It was never easy being far away from home. Even he himself had sometimes suffered a nightmare about his family and friends. Oh gawd, he missed them so much...

He wished that he could do something to help calm down Rapsheeba. He wished that he could just go over into that room and try to speak with her. Perhaps help her understand that she isn't in any danger and that Terry and Vinnie only wanted to learn more about her species. That was all. There wouldn't be any harm in her telling them.

Though a part of him felt hesitant to even try talking with her. Not that he wouldn't be glad to speak with her again. But what would she think of him now? Knowing that he now got along with Vinnie and Terry? How did she feel about the fact that he had to drag her out of ChalkZone? It was for a good reason, but he still felt horrible about it. He never did get a chance to fully explain to her that he hadn't meant any harm and that everything would be all right in the end.

Rudy lowered his head, feeling another tight twist in his chest. He realized that there was little reason for Rapsheeba to believe him at this point. He may have caused a lot of damage to their relationsihp at this point. He wasn't even sure if Rapsheeba could ever fully trust him again.

He bit his lip at this realization. He wished that one of those two were awake so that he could check up on Rapsheeba on his own. He lifted his head and he stared at Terry, who sat down next to him. Her closed eyes and partially open mouth suggested that she was still sleeping. It was hard to tell if it was light out outside or not, but either way, he didn't feel comfortable with waking her up.

And Vinnie was nowhere in sight. Rudy wondered what he could be doing. Maybe he was in the bedroom or something and he just...passed out from working so hard. Considering the fact that he cooks most of the time, it was a given.

Rudy flinched when he heard Rapsheeba give out a small, terror-filled scream. Must be a really bad nightmare. This was proven when he had heard her start sobbing again. And this went on for a while. The more he heard, he more he could feel his gut churning. Poor Rapsheeba... That had to be one intense nightmare that she was having. A shame that he wasn't in there with her. He could have helped her relax at this point.

The screaming and crying went on for a few minutes, and Rudy found himself growing more and more antsy. He didn't want to walk on his leg unless he absolutely had to. And given how he was pressed up against Terry, he feared if he moved too much, he could wake her up from her slumber. So he was placed in a position where he really wanted to move, and yet he couldn't. This was creating some internal fires shooting through every pore of his body as his body and mind fought to do two different things.

But soon, after a few moments, he could hear something start to change. The cries were starting to settle down. Slower, less energetic, more lethargic-sounding. Rudy tilted his head in that direction, trying to catch as much sound as possible with his ear. He could confirm that, yes indeed, Rapsheeba was starting to finally relax. Perhaps the nightmare had finally stopped.

He smiled at this. Knowing that Rapsheeba was calming down and becoming soothed made his heart swell up. Soon she would drift back to sleep and hopefully tomorrow, she'd come to a better understanding with Terry and Vinnie. Maybe they will be able to gain her truth and she could...

Well, that wasn't really much of a possibility at this point, now was it? He recalled that it had taken him a while to start trusting Vinnie and Terry. It was likely it would take Rapsheeba that long as well. She didn't have much of a reason to trust them at this point. They hadn't had enough time to really build trust with her. Not that they hadn't tried, but it was such a short time that... It didn't matter how great the method they used was; it was still going to take time.

...unless he tried something.

Rudy still wasn't sure if he liked the idea of meeting up with Rapsheeba so soon. She must have mixed feelings about him at this point. She might think that he betrayed her, and would ask him why should he trust anything else that he says. The thought hurt him, but he wouldn't really blame Rapsheeba if she truly felt that way.

But still, he'd have to try something. He might be the only one who could talk sense into her. Maybe if he sat down with her and really explained things to her and reassured her, maybe she would start to be a little more trusting. She would be able to return home if she'd only give them what they wanted. And while that sounded really horrible when he said it in his mind, it was really not going to be that bad.

He quickly made up his mind. For now, he would go back to sleep. But tomorrow when he woke up, after breakfast, he would suggest the idea to them. He wasn't entirely sure if Vinnie or Terry would like it. But at the very least, he had to give them the idea. He didn't want them to get too upset; Rapsheeba didn't need to be more frightened then she already was.

Rudy flinched as he felt a pang of pain in his head. Seething, he raised up his hand and he rubbed it against his forehead. He dug his fingernails on his other hand into the couch and held on tightly. He struggled to control himself as his head began to spin around in circles. This episode lasted for a few seconds before he finally settled down. He had to shake his head a couple of times before he could bright his blurred sight back to normal.

This wasn't the first time that this has happened. Darn, stupid fever... It was difficult for him to think at times. He had to sometimes struggle really hard with his mind before he managed to have a coherent thought about something. It was quite worrying, and something that he had brought up to those two before. They had done whatever they could, but the fever still persists...

Oh well, at least it was not at a dangerous level. He didn't feel as though he was dying or anything. He just felt a little weak and dizzy at times. And of course, chilly.

At that thought, he suddenly felt a wave of cold strike him. He seethed through his clenched teeth, gritting them against one another. He could feel a wave of goosebumps surge through his arms. He had to lift up one of his hands and rub them against his arm rapidly. The friction heat was enough to soothe the arm for the time being. But it didn't fully stop him from shivering hard a few times, his body practically jolting.

Looking over at Terry, he cuddled closer against her. He pressed his body against her side, his head resting on her lap. He laid his arm across her legs and curled his body inward towards her. His shivers felt as though they were increasing, and he shut his eyes tightly as he tried to endure it. Gawd, this stupid fever...

He pressed himself further against Terry, trying to get warm. Oh why did he ever decide to toss away that blanket? It was freezing outside, still. At least according to Vinnie and Terry. And his fever made him feel even more cold. Why in the world did he think it was a good idea to...

He opened up his eyes when he suddenly felt a wave of warmth move along his body, from his shoulders all the way down his back. Some kind of nice heating sensation, and he could feel his mouth curl up into a smile at this welcomed warmth. He turned his head to see what had taken place, and almost as soon as he laid eyes on Vinnie, he could feel the weight on the couch shift a little.

To Rudy's surprise, Vinnie decided to join him on the couch. Rudy felt a little confused by this. Normally, only one of them would stay with him on the couch and even then, they didn't always rest on the couch with him; he's been alone a few times as well. This would be the very first time that they were both on the couch with him.

And he felt a warm sensation of safety at this realization. A sense of security. He smiled in Vinnie's direction, even if he was not staring at him. The short man was leaning back against the couch, crossing one leg over the other. He held the remove in his eyes and turned the television on. The low sound was enough to cover up the crying that was still emitting from Rapsheeba.

With the low hum of the television caressing his ears, Rudy pressed his head against Terry's thigh further, cuddling up against her more tight and snug. He could feel Vinnie's hand running along down his side and back. He smiled at this as he took in a deep breath and he let out a small sigh. He shut his eyes and soon he drifted off.

sss

So sending out the red chalk creations wasn't as necessary as he had thought. If only he had realized that, he would have...

Well, how could he have known? Not like he knew about what Penny and Snap was going until now. They had stopped by earlier for some more magic chalk and he had been informed of what they had found out. While he was happy to hear that they finally had some kind of lead, it did make him feel more...embarrassed about his hasty use of the red chalk creations to find Rudy. All that risk that he did not have to take...

At least now he knew, and he could always round them up later. They didn't seem to be causing any kind of problem at the moment, anyway. No reports. They were just too busy trying to find Rudy or Rapsheeba. Though most likely Rudy. The red chalk was stubborn; even after not finding Rudy all this time, they were still looking. Quite relentless...

Which was what made them so terrifying. They simply did not give up. While that trait can be handy in some areas, it was used in the wrong manner with the red chalk. If only they were determined to do something more positive...

Well there wasn't much that he could do to change the nature of red chalk, now could he? That's how it always was. No matter how much he'd love for it to be different, the red chalk wouldn't change. It was primal, hardly thought about anything except about how to obtain power. There wasn't really anything that could grab the red chalk's attention unless it was a way to either spread its dominance or to obtain more power.

Licking his lips slowly, Biclops turned his massive head and stared down the hallway. Maybe he could try something else to... Oh no, he was not going through that again. He had already dealt with the huge risk that he felt he was forced to take. He was not going to risk another. Penny and Snap had things under control now. He should just let them handle it.

In the mean time, he would just... Hmm, he didn't really know what he was going to do. He wanted to help, but he didn't want to abandon the mine, either. He had to stay here, watchful and vigilant. If he left this place unguarded... He shuddered to think of just what might happen. He shook his head a few times as he attempted to push back those nasty thoughts.

But he didn't want to just stand around here and do nothing. He didn't want to be just a useless piece of chalk dust. He felt obligated to help protect ChalkZone, too. It wasn't just Rudy, Penny, and Snap. He cared just as much for the others as they did. So of course, he should at least try to do something else to help. Sure he had the red chalk out there and sure he told Penny and Snap to monitor them and report to him if they find anything. But he felt like he could do even more.

A part of him wondered if it was even a good idea to continue giving different types of help this way. What if he ended up making things more complicated? What if he ended up screwing up the mission somehow? He was well aware that sometimes, too much help can complicate things. They needed to be more organized and planned out. Otherwise, it was quite easy for bad things to happen.

But at the same time, maybe it wouldn't really hurt to put out extra help. The more attempts to find Rudy and Rapsheeba, the more likely that they were going to find them, right? So long as he wasn't too overboard with this, he might be able to...

He stopped himself when he heard the sound of some kind of pebble rolling across the floor. He turned his head and he stared down at the lone pebble. He narrowed his eyes at this as he lowered himself down and pinched the pebble in his fingers. He stared at it closely, narrowing his eyes. How very strange... What had caused this pebble to...

He then heard a scraping sound, and more pebbles rolling. He gritted his teeth as he saw the tiny rocks roll up by his feet. He turned his head, staring into the next chamber. It took him only a few seconds to realize that it was coming from one of his back chambers that held more white chalk. Someone was back there... The thought caused a burning sensation to surge through his body.

How dare someone intrude on his home... How dare they make a mockery of him by coming here, thinking that they could get away with it... How dare they defile this sacred place... He was going to catch them. And oh man, once he did, they were going to have a lot of questions to answer.

Narrowing his vertical eyes, Biclops made his way over to the next chamber. He didn't rush things, however. He made sure to go nice and slow. His massive frame could easily alert the intruder. It was hard to move around without shaking the ground with him this size, but so long as he kept his steps nice and soft, he should be able to pull it off without much problem.

Slowly and steadily, he walked over to where the sound was coming from. He could see more pebbles being rolled his way. He could hear a small grunt and the sound of snapping. Almost immediately, he seethed through his large, gritted teeth. A lightning bolt shot through his mind. It took him only a second to put the pieces together and realize just what was going on around here.

Someone was stealing some magic chalk. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. Not on his watch. Forfeiting any chance of being subtle, his duty-bound mind coming into play, he quickened his pace and rushed over.

"Oh no you don't! Put that stuff down before I..."

Biclops immediately froze at what he saw. He stared long and hard, a part of him not wanting to believe it himself. He licked his lips nervously, his tongue suddenly feeling dry. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene, even though the longer he stared, the more confused he became about the whole thing. Just...how was this possible...?

He knew it couldn't have been a dream, though. This was certainly real. No matter how lightly he pinched himself, he could still feel it. That meant that this had to be real of some kind. But that didn't make this any easier for him to understand. If anything, it only made it even more confusing.

Licking his dry mouth, the giant managed to squeaked out a small yet powerful word.

"R-Rudy...?"

When the figure before him lifted up his head, sure enough, it really was Rudy. There was no mistaking that face, or those features. Those green eyes bored into his eyes, almost piercing. Not out of malice, but out of shock, as though he did not expect him to see him like this. The boy froze upon noticing the giant staring down at him, hugging the back of chalk to himself.

Biclops struggled with the rapidly moving emotions in the back of his head. He breathed in and out quickly, his heart clenching and racing. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He tried to tell himself that there was a logical explaination for this, that it couldn't possibly be what he thought it was. No, Rudy wouldn't really have...

But the longer he stared, the more he realized that this had to be... it couldn't be anything else. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he thought, nothing really changed what he was seeing. All he could do was just...stare as his eyes further confirmed his worst fears. He never thought that Rudy would really do something like this.

Or was he? Biclops quickly remembered that he had been kidnapped before. Could his kidnappers be putting him up to this? Was he being threatened? Biclops found himself momentarily frozen as his mind was filled to the brim of many thoughts, regarding what Rudy was doing, what could have been done to him, and the fact that this was the first time that he had seen him in along time.

Oh if only this had happened in better circumstances...

Before the giant had a chance to fully register what was going on, Rudy suddenly took off. No simple crouching or cringing, or even saying anything to him. The human child just got up and ran away as though some kind of monster had appeared to take him. Biclops was frozen in shock at this for a few seconds before he started to take off.

"Wait! Rudy Tabootie!" Biclops huffed as he ran forward. His footfalls shook the ground. His breathing became heavy. "Come back here!"

But Rudy wouldn't stop. He just kept running faster and faster, trying his best to try to lose him. Biclops struggled to keep up with him. A task that should be easy given how large he was, but for some reason, he found it almost impossible to keep up, and before he knew it, the boy was gone completely, along with that bag of missing chalk.

Biclops stood at the Chalk Mine entrance, his large hand pressed up against the wall of the entrance and he leaned against it. He opened his mouth a bit wider as he struggled to gulp in more breaths. His head spun around in circles, his tongue hanging out and becoming even more dry. He stared at the disappearing form of Rudy, and within seconds, he disappeared.

So many thoughts crowded through his mind, even more so than before. He found it difficult to really control his own thinking, or have any coherent thought. His mind was just blasting him with multiple questions regarding this, and a part of him wondered if he was even seeing things right. Or was this even real at all? Sometimes people do feel pain in their dreams. Maybe this was just one of those times wehn...

Well, regardless, something was going on and he had to figure out what it was. He needed to know why Rudy stole magic chalk from him and why. Biclops refused to think that he had done that on his own accord; someone was making him do it. And it had to be because of his kidnapper. And if it was his kidnapper, then...

There was no way around it. The culprits had to be Vinnie and Terry. Or at least one of them. Who else would even know about magic chalk? Who else would black mail Rudy into doing something like this? Yeah, it had to be them.

Biclops narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. It was truly sickening the way that some people tried to get what they want. But Vinnie and Terry? They take the cake. Especially Terry, who manipulated a small child to try to gain access to ChalkZone. He wouldn't be surprised if this was her dirty work yet again. He wondered just how she managed to do it this time. He gave a quick, burning cold shudder at the mere thought of that.

He needed to do something and fast. He had seen Rudy running around here. He had spotted him. He wasn't the only one from what he hurt. The others reported the sighting and so should he. And then tell those two how Rudy stole the chalk and how that would connect the kidnappers to, at the very least, Terry. Not that either of them would be surprised, of course. Almost everyone in ChalkZone City had suspected Terry.

And then from there.. Well Biclops was certain that they could figure out something that they could do.

He bit his lip as he felt a sting in his chest. He hoped that Rudy had been treated okay. But he couldn't imagine that being the case if he had been forced into this. What kind of horrible thing did Terry to do make Rudy do this? He could feel a few small tears burn in the back of his large eyes. That poor little child...

Suddenly, a small smile crept up along his face. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to send the red chalk out there after all. Now to get ahold of Snap and Penny...

sss

"Rudy was where?!" Penny cried out in shock. "Are you sure?!"

"Positive! I saw him in the Chalk Mine. He was stealing magic chalk." Biclops replied.

Penny widened her eyes at this. A part of her couldn't believe what she was hearing. Surely Biclops was joking, right? She had to be mishearing this somehow... But as Biclops continued to stare at her, his expression holding nothing but absolute seriousness, she realized that... he wasn't lying. He was being completely sincere.

Which only made this moment not only more confusing, but quite alarming. She exchanged a look of horror with Snap before she looked back at where Biclops was, his image being displayed on the upgraded homing beacon that she had lent them. She licked her lips nervously as she let her mind wander, fully realizing just what this truly meant.

Rudy, somehow, had access to keep coming into ChalkZone. But instead of going to them and trying to get back to his parents, for whatever reason, he was just...not. He kept leaving them and returning to wherever he was taken. And the fact that he stole magic chalk instead of simply asking Biclops... Something was very wrong here.

"That can't be right. Rudy wouldn't steal anything!" Snap raised his hands up in the air. "It must have been someone else! Maybe another human creator or..."

"No, Snap. It was Rudy Tabootie. I recognized him." Biclops cut him off. His eyes narrowed softly. "Or are you insinuating that I am blind?"

Snap waved his hands out in front of him, shaking his head as he grinned. "Oh no, not at all, big guy! It's just that..." He paused for a moment. He lowered his hands down at his sides as he lowered his head. His eyes furrowed a little, a sense of sadness strongly radiating off them. "I just don't want to think that Rudy would really...do something like this. It's just not like him..."

Biclops let out a sigh. He placed his large hand against his head, shaking it from side to side. "I'm not happy about it either, Snap. But...we don't have much of a choice here, now do we?" He lowered his hand a little, gesturing it towards them through the screen. "I'm telling you, it was him. He stole a few pieces of magic chalk and he just ran off with them."

Penny felt a sting in her stomach. "He was probably taking them to his captors..." Snap widened his eyes in horror at this, but couldn't figure out what to say. "That would explain why he was so secretive..."

"Exactly." Biclops's response was frank and to the point. Just enough for the two of them to fully understand what this allmeant.

Snap shook his head in disbelief. "N-No... He wouldn't do something like that.." Snap looked over at Penny. His eyes practically radiated in desperation. It made her flinch a little, seeing how worried he was about this. "Please, tell me this is some kind of a joke. B-Bucko wouldn't try to.."

Penny could only look at him with great sympathy before turning her head away. Her eyes closed lightly and she released a sigh from her partially open mouth. As much as she wanted to be more optimistic and think it was someone else, as much as she wanted to comfort him, she knew that she could not. She knew that Biclops was correct. From the description and how trustworthy the giant was... Yeah, there was nothing else that it could have been.

Reminding herself yet again of just how real this whole thing was made Penny bit her lip firmly, sucking it. She wasn't really upset with Rudy. She could not blame him for his actions; he was obviously forced into it.

No, her concern was instead with whoever was controlling him. Him stealing magic chalk more or less confirmed that it had to be Vinnie...or even Terry. Or both. She couldn't keep her eyes from widening further as the full realization struck her like a freight train. She could feel her gut twisting sharply, and she thought that her heart was going to burst wide open, spilling its blood everywhere.

Attempting to stop it only seemed to make it stronger. She put her hand to her chest and she could feel her heart thumping inside, trying to push against her chest. She breathed in and out shakenly, trying to do whatever she could to settle down. She needed to calm herself down and try to think about this situation. She would not be able to do much assessment if she allowed her mind to go haywire with emotion.

After a short time, she did succeed in calming herself down. But there were things that still needed to be addressed. The situation with Rudy was only one of them. Now they had something else to worry about. With Vinnie and/or Terry involved...

Her briefly calm heart suddenly burst into a strong, powerful torrent of emotion as she realized that if Rudy were taken by them and he was bringing over magic chalk, then... She sucked in a sharp breath of horror at this, taking a small step back. Oh gawd no...

"Buckette...?" Snap whispered softly, moving his hand towards her. "Are you all right..?"

Penny looked down at him. Almost funny that he was the one asking if she was okay when he had been the most outwardly fearful out of all of them. She wanted so badly to smile at him and reassure him, yet all she could do was continue staring at him in horror, licking her lips slowly. All that did was further worry the little zoner, making him even more ansty.

Penny looked down at the homing beacon. She noticed that Biclops as well was staring at her, waiting for her response. She could see the way his eyes were wide and how his teeth were clenched against each other. She felt a brief pang of guilt before she finally spoke. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"No, don't worry about it. We understand." Biclops spoke up, cutting her off. "Anyway, let's not dwell on that now. We have important matters to discuss." His eyes furrowed deeply. "I'm sure you're both aware of that."

Wordlessly, Penny and Snap nodded their heads. They both knew that he was right. As much as they wanted to discuss things further, that just wasn't an option here. They had to figure out what to do about Rudy and fast. If they allowed things to continue as they were...

Penny couldn't stop the flashes of images in her head as she wondered just how Rudy could have gotten to this state. What could have possessed him to do what Vinnie and/or Terry wanted him to do? Then she got a rude wake up call when she recalled how Terry forced Rudy into submission before. Perhaps something else like that had happened again? The thought filled her heart with ice.

"Some good news. The red chalk would most certainly have picked up the trail." Biclops's voice slightly wavered at that. It was unclear if he was just nervous, or if he really didn't know if he was speaking the truth or not. "That red chalk creature would likely have tracked him down. We can check the tracker and see where the creature is now and go there."

Penny couldn't believe she had forgotten about that red chalk creature. They had been so busy working this stuff out that it just slipped her mind. Normally, talk of the red chalk would freak her out, but in this case, it was more or less leading them to where Rudy was being held...or at least they hoped so. They could deal with the red chalk after; right now, it was important to let it go because if it was on the trail for Rudy, then they could... Well, at the very least, she hoped that it would work.

Penny didn't want to waste any more time. She realized that she would end up making everything feel rushed and all, but there was no point in standing around here. Biclops had already told them which way Rudy went and they did have the tracker. So why not just follow the red chalk creature to see if it'll take them to Rudy? They were much closer to where Rudy was spotted before. They should take advantage of this before...

Just then, she heard a distant snap. Far away, indicating that whoever did that was still a good many feet away. She turned herself around quickly, seething through her clenched teeth. She could feel Snap's and Biclops's eyes upon her, confused by her sudden change in disposition. Neither of them had heard what she did. She looked back down at them and pressed her finger against her lip to silence them before either them could even think to try to speak.

Grabbing onto Snap, she jumped to one side, hiding behind one of the cliff formations that they were standing near. It was a good thing that, despite this place being sparse of vegetation except for a few, there were still plenty of places to hide. She kept herself pressed in the shadows of his crevice, her hand placed over Snap's mouth to make sure that he didn't try to speak. Her eyes then focused on what was going on before her.

Snap struggled in her arms, jerking herself from side to side, trying to make her let go. He let out a serie of muffled cries, each one growing increasingly frustrated and annoyed. She could feel him try to yank down her arm, his hands tightly wrapping around her arm. Penny, however, kept a tight grip on him and she even tightened the muscles in her arm, pressing him more firmly against herself, making it harder for him to escape.

But eventually, Snap was still able to get away, yanking his head free from her grasp and giving her a harsh glare. He seethed through his gritted teeth as he raised up his arm to start his rant.

"Why did you..."

"Shh!" Penny immediately clamped both hands against his mouth. She pushed him back against the nearby wall, her desperate-filled eyes staring down at him. "Be quiet...!" She struggled to keep her own voice from sounding too loud. "I think I hear someone coming...!"

Snap widened his eyes at this realization. He stopped struggling against her, becoming a bit more relaxed. Once Penny was certain that Snap was going to to make another sound, she pulled her hands back, releasing him. The blue and white zoner stared at her for a few seconds and then he turned his head over to where they had run away from, looking for whatever she had heard.

Penny shook her head. "It was coming from a different direction." She motioned her head to the right of where Snap was looking. "A snap of a twig. Someone is coming this way quite hastily."

"Well it could be just Blocky trying to catch up to us or..." Snap suggested, raising his hand up in gesture.

Penny frowned at this. "Or it could be Rudy."

"But why would..." Snap's voice trailed off. "Oh..."

It was a long shot. It really could be someone else. It could be another zoner perhaps, or even another human, even if that wasn't quite as likely. They could be waiting around for what could essentially be nothing.

But what if it was Rudy? What if he was on his way here? If they could just catch him before he had a chance to return to Vinnie and Terry...

Penny and Snap hunkered down and stared intently, waiting to see if Rudy truly did show up. They remained quiet and vigilant. They glanced at each other for a moment and then looked back out at the scene before them. There was no telling if they would see what they wanted, but for the sake of possibility...of getting a chance to save Rudy before things got worse... It would be worth it.

sss

Rudy looked left and right, trying to make sure that no one was following him. He hadn't really noticed anything coming his way. That was a miracle in of itself. He had seen just how desperate Biclops was in catching him...

Well it was a good thing that he got away. Vinnie and Terry would have been worried sick if he stayed in here for too long. He wasn't fully well yet, anyway. He'd rather wait until he was fully healthy before he would go back and...

Well the thought did cause him to freeze a little bit. Before, he would have much rather have returned to his friends whenever possible. But with he just thought now... Was he really getting so comfortable with Vinnie and Terry that he would rather just wait with them? The thought made him feel uncomfortable on some level.

But at the same time, he didn't really feel it was all that wrong. Those two were the ones who saved his life, after all. They had treated him well and kept him alive after all this time. It just felt...natural to him to wait with them until he felt well enough to move out on his own. And besides, he did promise them he'd be back soon. He didn't want to break his promise to them and make them worry about him.

This was probably going to be his last stop into ChalkZone. At least until he felt better. He would really want to find at least Snap and tell him everything was all right, but he was in a hurry and he wasn't feeling well and...

Could he have told Biclops? He would have before...until he saw him stealing from him. He probably wouldn't have been cooperative even if he had been more up front about this. It was a darn shame, too. He normally trusted Biclops and he still did. But for this situation, he felt that the giant would be more of a hinderence than an asset. He wouldn't be able to tell him what he wanted the magic chalk for, and then he would have told Penny and Snap and they might end up in trouble somehow and...

He was getting a little paranoid. He needed to get himself to calm down. He was not going to accomplish anything if he let his mind wander so much. He shook his head a few times, bringing his thoughts back to focus.

At least he was getting close to the portal. He had made sure it was well hidden. No one in ChalkZone would be able to find it. While he felt a little guilty of being so deceitful, he did understand the necessity of it. At least everything would turn out all right in the end. He was certain that the people of ChalkZone would understand once he explained it.

Though he imagined that talking with Rapsheeba was going to be even harder...

He hadn't yet attempted it. Vinnie and Terry wanted him to get some magic chalk so that he wouldn't run out so quickly. He had forgotten how that first piece was found, if he had it or if Vinnie and Terry found it. Well didn't really matter anyway. He had more magic chalk now and that's what mattered. The purpose was entirely just to make sure he had some just in case; so far those two hadn't attempted to do anything to indicate that they planned on using the chalk themselves.

Not that he felt it was a big problem. Maybe in the past when they were clearly more out for personal gain than anything else. But they had proven themselves to him and he didn't really see it as an issue with them using the magic chalk. This was quite a shocking thought and he felt himself momentarily freeze. But he soon relaxed himself, feeling a small smile spread across his face. He needed to learn to control these worries of his.

Turning his head back in the direction where the portal was, he began to make his way over. Good thing he found this cliff groove when he did before. Putting the portal here was a better choice than just outside of it, which he tried last time. That had nearly caused him quite a bit of trouble.

He moved in closer and he was about to make his way into the groove when he suddenly stopped himself. He narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the ground, noticing the shadows that spread across. He clenched his teeth tightly, feeling his heart skip a few bits. He didn't want it to be true, but there was no denying what he was seeing.

Someone was here. Someone had found his spot. Someone had followed him here.

This realization caused Rudy to tense up, stiffening, feeling his hairs raise on end. He darted his eyes left and right as he tried to find who else could be here. He clenched his teeth tightly, seething, letting out a soft growl. He realized just how much had been put into jeopardy in that moment. If this stranger knew him, even had some kind of camera and got footage of this... He needed to stop them before it went too far. If he didn't, then... He did not want to imagine the mess that this could cause.

Trying to be as silent as he could, the young boy began to make his way over, moving at a much slower pace. He didn't want to give away the fact that he was getting closer. He kept his leg muscles taut as he moved over step by step.

Soon he made it over. Not wasting any time, he peered over. He stiffened up.

"Penny..? Snap..?" He squeaked out softly.

He couldn't believe it. He wanted to think that his eyes were decieving him. There was no way that it could be them. They wouldn't have... They couldn't have..

But they were. They were pressed up against the wall as though they were trying to hide. From him no less. They stared at him, looking just as shocked as he was. But there was something else in their eyes as well. Something that he couldn't quite identify.

Licking his lips slowly, a rush of emotion swept through Rudy. He could feel his body clamoring for a dominant emotion. He couldn't tell if he wanted to feel more happy that he was seeing his friends again or if he should he horrified that they found him like this. His heart pounded rapidly inside his chest and he found himself taking a small step back. He was unable to look away from him, and they seemed unable to tear their eyes away as well.

Rudy's mind sifted through many rapidly moving thoughts as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He tried to think of what he should say or do. But all he could end up doing in the end was just...stand there and stare at them. He kept his eyes wide like saucers and his breathing coming in and outh through shaky puffs through his mouth.

He did eventually bring himself to speak. His voice was weak and trembling. But he did at least manage to say something else, breaking the silence that settled amongst them. "Wh-What are you guys doing here...?"

Rudy reached his hand over towards them, slowly and tentatively. But when he noticed his friends cringing back away from him, he stopped. He leaned away from them a little, staring at them in shock and confusion. Why had they done that? What were they afraid of? And why were they looking at him like that?

"Guys...? What's wrong..?"

Snap slowly narrowed his eyes. "Y-You should know why... Bucko.." Rudy flinched at the way Snap spoke that word. He had never heard him speak that word so bitterly before. "Don't pretend that you don't know."

"I..." Rudy started to say, only to be cut off by Penny.

"You had us so worried, Rudy. We kept looking for you! We kept searching every nook and cranny! You have any idea how much trouble we all went through to find you?!" Penny formed small fists with her hands. She clenched her teeth and she seethed through them. "And to find out that you have been... You ran away and..." She raised her hands up into the air, her fingers unfolded and arched, stiffened like claws as her hands trembled. She looked as if she was desperately trying to release so much pent up rage in a single fell swoop. "I just can't believe you, Rudy!"

The young boy took a few steps away from them. He looked left and right at his two friends, a part of him hoping to find some ounce of understanding in them. But all he got was a set of glaring directed right at him. Neither of the two seemed like they were going to give up. They just continued to frown at him, their teeth bared as they expressed their fury through expressions.

His heart race even faster, his mind spinning. He licked his lips nervously, and clenched his teeth slightly. He kept staring at them, his eyes wide and unable to look away. It was as though they held him in a vice. There was no hatred involved or anything, but that didn't make this that much more bearable to see.

Rudy wanted to be happy that he's seeing them again. He wanted to feel happy that, after all this time, he was finally reunited with his two best friends. He had a feeling that they felt the same way too. By all means, this should have been a happy reunion.

Instead, it had all been completely soured by the circumstances of their reunion. Rudy finding them before he was ready to tell them what went on, and the fact that he was still sick. And Penny and Snap finding him like this, in a situation that made him look back and... Well, it would be different if he was given a chance to explain his side of the story. But judging from their expressions...something told him that this might not be so likely.

So what was he going to do now? Was he going to just stand here? Or was he going to try to leave? Terry and Vinnie were waiting for him. But he doubted that Snap and Penny would let him by. They might have been found the portal and closed it.

...no, it was still there. He could see the flash of light. They hadn't found it hidden amongst the rocks behind them. But if he were to try to get over there...

As much as he cared about these two, he couldn't let them figure out that this is where the portal to Vinnie and Terry's log cabin was. If they found out... Rudy felt his heart twist as he imagined those two adults being arrested for a crime that they didn't commit. They did save his life; now it was his chance to return the favor. He needed to protect them from being wrongfully imprisoned. Which meant that there was going to be a delay in him getting back. He had a feeling that those two would understand once he explained it to them, whenever he got back.

"Guys, please... I don't want to..." He raised his hands up, motioning them back and forth slowly. He wasn't sure if this would be enough to soothe his friends, but he had to try at least something, right? He needed to calm them down before they did anything drastic.

But it would seem that he was too late for that. Judging from the way his friends glared at him, it didn't seem like anything he said at that point was going to help them feel any better. They didn't look like they wanted to attack him; it wasn't that bad. But they did look like they at least wanted to tackle him and drag him back with them. Something that he could not allow.

"Rudy, I don't know what the hell you thought you were doing, but..." Penny forced a sigh out of her partially open mouth. She took in a few deep breaths before she appeared to finally relax. She shook her head slowly and when she looked back at Rudy, this time she was much more relaxed and more..concerned than anything. "I have no idea what Vinnie and Terry did to you to make you do this... But we are here for you now."

Rudy blinked his eyes in confusion. Did these two really think that Vinnie and Terry were the ones who hurt him? They didn't even bother asking him what happened. They just..jumped to conclusions.

"Yeah, Bucko. We're sorry that we got so mad at you. It's just..." Snap raised his hands at his sides. "We missed you so much. We don't understand why you...didn't attempt to get a hold of us sooner and..." He stopped for a moment, biting his lip a bit. He looked at Rudy, his eyes filled with sympathy and concern. "I think I understand why, though. You're being forced into this and you didn't want us to get into trouble." He gave a small smile at him. "But it's going to be okay now, Rudy. You can come home with us and..."

"No!"

Penny and Snap looked taken aback by Rudy's sudden shout. Even Rudy himself was surprised at just how loud he was there. He hadn't meant to do that; it just ended up happening. A wave of emotion had struck him and he just needed to release his emotions somehow.

But now he ended up putting himself in such a predicament. If his friends weren't confused earlier, they sure as heck where now. He could see the way that they were looking at him. This time, their eyes practically glowed with perplexing emotions. They glanced at each other a few times before they'd look back at him. They blinked their eyes slowly and they moved forward, causing Rudy go bo back.

"Rudy...what's wrong?" Penny whispered softly. "You look ill..."

"Kind of pale looking..." Snap added on.

Rudy looked down at his hand and he noticed that he had gotten lighter than usual. It was in that moment that he realized that the fever was starting to get to him. He noticed how his vision had started to get blurrier and his legs were getting more wobbly. He felt a rush of something go through his head and then a cold chill creating goosebumps all over his arms. He hissed softly as he took a few steps back, placing his hand against his forehead. He shook it once as he attempted to regain his senses. He needed to get back to Vinnie and Terry before the fever got too bad.

But how was he going to get past his friends? As he looked at them with his hand on his forehead his mouth open and panting, he realized that they probably were not going to just let him walk through. Especially now, when he's made it clear that he wasn't feeling well. They would try to take him back and...

He just couldn't go with them. It felt weird to think and even on some level, he couldn't fully understand it. But he just...needed to back to the log cabin and deliver the chalk, and help Terry and Vinnie get that information that they were so curious about. They weren't going to do anything wrong...not that Penny and Snap would believe him. They thought he was being forced into this. They wouldn't understand.

"It's okay now, Rudy. You are safe with us." Penny said as she approached slowly, motioning with her hands carefully. "Just...stay right there... We'll come to you and help you out of here."

Help him out of here? But he didn't need any help. He was completely fine. Why couldn't they see that? Well then again, he did look pretty sickly...

He needed to do something and quick. Penny and Snap were approaching him fast. They would be on his tail soon. He was stuck on what to do. Even if he did try to run, he would be so out of it that he wouldn't get that far; these two would catch up to him in seconds. It would be absolutely no contest.

So he would have to slow them down somehow. He did feel his heart twist a the thought of using the magic chalk against them. But since it was for a good reason...

Snap moved forward a little more quality. His body hunched, and he looked as though he took on a more tentative disposition. It was hard to tell if he had seen what Rudy was trying to do or if he was just nervous of scaring him or something. Either way, Rudy backed away from him.

Snap spoke in a soft, gentle voice. "It's okay now, Bucko. Don't worry... We will get you to safety." He motioned to himself. "Just come along with us. You can trust us. Please... don't make this too difficult."

"I-It's not that I don't trust you.." Rudy gripped a piece of magic chalk in the bag. He had yet to pull it out. It felt as though something was freezing him in place, making it hard to move. "I just..."

Snap frowned slightly. "Rudy, I know you're just on edge from what happened and I understand that..."

"But we are your friends. You do not need to run from us. Please just...let us help you..." Penny clasped her hands together, peering directly at Rudy. "Please, Rudy... We only want to help you."

Rudy could feel his body shaking at this. Emotions ran amock, made even worse by the fact that he was not feeling well to start with. He darted his eyes left and right as though he was being confronted by danger. He did feel horrible for feeling like this around his friends. He wanted to embrace them, pull them into a hug and tell them how much he missed them.

But he just couldn't do that. Not in this situation. If he just...did nothing except stand around here... He was just wasting time. Each second that passed was another moment that he could have been back at the log cabin. His friends were only going to slow him down. He needed to get past them. But that would mean...

He lowered his gaze for a few moments, feeling his eyes partially close. He gritted his teeth tightly against one another. He felt a pang of regret. He whispered one thing that he desired most of all in that moment.

"I'm so sorry, you guys."

With that, he raised up his piece of magic chalk. He could see the look of confusion quickly plaster over his friends' eyes. They started to back away slowly, holding their hands up in front of them.

"Rudy..?" Snap whispered. "What are you doing?"

Penny licked her lips slowly, her eyes unable to leave they were seeing right before her. "Please...stop this, Rudy. Y-You're scaring us..."

Rudy normally would have stopped. He would have tried to turn away. He would have told them what was going on. But in that moment, right now, there was just no time. He would try to explain later. Just...not right now. Not with his mission incomplete, and certainly not with his head feeling like it was going to implode at any given moment.

Without saying another word, Rudy began to move the chalk downwards, the white stick glowing more as bright lines began to emerge in the air. He moved them around swiftly, allowing the lines to rapidly form an image of some kind. Then a flash of light, and the creation came into view.

Penny's eyes widened in shock. "R-Rudy..."

The boy closed his eyes, feeling another wave of regret strike him. He then reopened them and he looked over at his friends. He wanted to apologize to them so much right now. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He could only wave his hand once, signalling his creation to take action.

Within seconds, the machine he drew shot out something bright and stringy. His friends only had seconds to react before they were struck by what appeared to be a light net. They were tossed to the side, wrapped up and entangled, and then lifted upwards. They swung around as they struggled.

Rudy looked up at them, giving an apologetic expression. "I'm so sorry, you guys..." He whispered before he took off, trembling.

sss

"Hmm, the little brat is late." Vinnie murmured softly as he looked down at his watch. He tapped his foot in an impatient manner, a small snarl curling up from his lip. "Do you think he is trying to give us the slip or something? Does he think that we're idiots?"

Terry stared over at Vinnie, giving him a sharp frown. "You have so little faith in him."

Vinnie raised an eyebrow at this. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Terry replied, barely giving any thought to her responses. "You see that Rudy is only a few minutes late and you already think that he ditched us or something." She couldn't help but shake her head. "You of so little belief..."

Vinnie hissed softly. "Well what about you? Not that long ago, you were pretty upset that he wanted to go back into ChalkZone and..."

"That was before I knew that he wanted to get more magic chalk." Terry said.

"I thought we had that thought. Of getting him to bring more, I mean." Vinnie tilted his head to one side, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion."

"Well whatever." Terry shrugged. There was enough on her mind right now. She didn't really care for finding out which came first or not." She folded her arms behind her back as she moved towards the portal on the portable chalkboard they had brought with them. She gave a small smirk. "He will come back. You will see."

Vinnie rolled his eyes at this. "I say you are being too confident. I'm telling you, that brat will take the first chance he gets to run off."

Terry looked at him, giving him a sideways glance. "He's still sick. He still thinks we're his friends. Rudy had little reason to try to run away from us. The only reason you are even upset right now is because he's gone and you think that something will happen in that time period." Upon seeing Vinnie was not trying to answer, Terry took a step towards him. "That is it, isn't it? You just want to have something to complain about because you just..."

"Oh can it, will you?!" Vinnie snapped, showing his gritted teeth at her. Terry closed her mouth and looked at Vinnie with a calm expression. "This has been going on for a while and I don't know how much more we can do and..." Vinnie gripped the sides of his head, seething through his clenched teeth. "Oh..!" He attempted to make himself relax, moving his arms down at his sides. But it would seem that he could not calm down and his body remained quite stiff. "I just wish you would see what kind of problems this could lead us into. We have access to ChalkZone. Why don't we just..."

Terry raised her hand up to silence him, her eyes still focused on the chalkboard. Upon seeing that Rudy was not yet coming back, she turned her head and she faced the stupid man not far from her. She and him exchanged glances for several moments before she gave him her answer. "Because, there's still more we can do with him. He's under our control. Instead of just waltzing right in that place, why not have Rudy help us? We will be able to get what we want out of that place with Rudy by our side."

It was true, and she knew Vinnie knew this as well. Rudy was their ticket to full control over ChalkZone. Keeping him around was proving to be beneficial. Rudy could convince the zoners that they weren't a threat. They could make the more aggressive zoners back down. He could make his friends leave them alone. They would be granted immunity in some sense.

Of course, actually trying to make money off of this place was not going to be easy. She suspected that they would be easily recognized and they would be arrested. Even if Rudy put out a good word for them, that wouldn't really change much. Rudy could protect them from the zoners, but other humans? That was another story entirely.

Fortunately, there were always solutions. If they were to look in all the right places, they would eventually find something that could work. Even if they had to resort to using disguises, they would do that.

And that was where ChalkZone came into play. Didn't Rudy say that anything could be created there? This could be their ticket to creating convincing fake IDs or something. Make people think that they were someone else. Then they could start using ChalkZone how they feel it should be. Such a place was just far too marvelous to keep it a secret.

And sooner or later, even Rudy himself would agree to that.

Terry's thoughts were interrupted when she heard something coming from the chalkboard. Freezing for a split second, she turned her head and she stared at it for several seconds. What was going on there? Why did she hear several shouts coming from it?

Then there was a yelp and then a thud. Then nothing but silence. Vinnie and Terry glanced at each other nervously before turning their attention back to the chalkboard. They stared at the portal intently, the glow of the ring practically burning an image into their eyeballs as they waited to see what was going to happen.

At first, there was nothing. Just silence and the portal wavering about. Around and around it continued to move. It was almost hypnotic. This, coupled by the eerie silence, made this whole situation that much more unnerving. They gritted their teeth nervously and moved closer together instinctively. If something had happened to Rudy and if one of the zoners were to...

Terry knew that once the zoner was in the Real World, they were vulnerable to water, but she'd only have the upperhand if she managed to get the water first. And what if the zoner was huge and nasty and...? What if she wasn't able to get to the water in time? What would the zoner do to her? To Vinnie?

To Rudy?

Terry shook her head at that last thought. She furrowed her eyes deeply, hissing once through her clenched teeth. She wasn't really all that worried for Rudy. Why should she be? That little brat had caused them enough grief as it was. He was only alive with them at their tolerance and nothing more.

Though it seemed the more she thought about it that way, the more tingly her hands started to feel. Slightly painful at that, and she felt cold shivers move through her spine. These were brief, but enough to make her freeze in confusion. She wasn't really sure why she was feeling like that. Why should she express any kind of concern for that little brat? Especially after what he had done to her before...

After managing to regain her senses, Terry was the first one to approach.

"Be careful." Vinnie told her, raising his hand up as if he wanted to grab her and pull her back.

Terry looked over her shoulder and stared at him. She let out a small sigh and shook her head very slightly. She wasn't really sure why Vinnie even bothered to say that. It wasn't like she was going to need luck with this. Any zoner that came in through here would have to go through this small portal, which meant they couldn't be that big, which further meant that she should be able to catch them pretty easily, right?

At least, she hoped so.

Just then, without warning, something was tossed in through the portal. It was a miracle that it could even fit, given how large and bulgy that it was. There was a loud thud, and a crash several feet away. The flash that went over their eyes was swift, but bright white in color. Terry had to cover her eyes for a brief moment to avoid allowing her eyes to burn.

Looking over, she could see that, laying not far from them, was some kind of a glowing net. And it wasn't empty. Further analysis revealed that it was occupied by something. Frowning her eyes deeply, Terry moved in closer to see what was caught in the net. Upon seeing the unconscious forms of Penny and Snap, she froze, her eyes bulging wide.

How in the world did this...

"I-I didn't mean to..."

Terry and Vinnie shook their heads, freeing themselves from their shocked dispositions, and they looked over to see Rudy, who stood there, his body trembling, his eyes bulging wide open.

With his mouth partially open, each breath quite shaky, he said, "I tried to make them leave... But they kept trying to stop me... They wouldn't keep quiet... Th-They left me no choice.." Rudy stared over at Vinnie and Terry, his eyes starting to water. "Please...don't be mad at me..."

Vinnie and Terry could only look on in shocked silence.

sss

Vinnie couldn't believe it. He knew that they should have done something with the boy sooner. He knew that they should have tried harder to do something to keep this from happening. Well, not that he would have predicted this happening, but still...

He watched with narrowed eyes as Terry attempted to comfort Rudy. The sight was pretty disgusting. Terry may try to pretends he didn't care, but he could see it in her eyes. He knew that, on some level, she had started to genuinely care for the little brat.

...he should take. He recalled that he, too, had also started to worry for the little tyke. But at least he recognized this and was actively fighting against it. He couldn't let himself forget the mission. He couldn't let himself grow so soft. The point of this all was to make Rudy develop Stockholm Syndrome, not him or Terry. If he allowed Rudy to gain control over them...

He shook the thought out of his head. He gave one more glance at Rudy and Terry, noting how the woman was doing what she could to settle him down, and he turned his attention to their little 'catch of the day', so to speak.

So Rudy had captured his own friends... How very interesting. Vinnie never thought he'd see the day. A small smirk spread cross his mouth at the irony of this. He was certain that those two were trying to save him, and instead, they ended up getting caught. Quite fantastic... He didn't know what possessed Rudy to do this. He found it hard to believe that he'd do it under his own accord, or were their attempts at brainwashing him really that successful?

But since these two were were... Perhaps they could take advantage of the situation. With them here, they wouldn't be able to tell anyone that they found Rudy. They would still be able to keep the little child, even if he felt it was best to just... oh well, it didn't matter right now anyway. Rudy was back, the portal was sealed, and his little friends was here with them, unconscious and in the net.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to figure out what to do with them. They couldn't just let them go. They might remember that Rudy was the one who brought them over and they would tell his parents and they might figure out where they were here and... No, it was just too big of a risk to let them go.

So perhaps killing them would work? A really extreme, desperate attempt and all. But it would permanently silence than and they'd have nothing to worry about.

Well, except for Rudy himself. He had a feeling that the boy would not be happy with them if he found out that they killed his two friends. It may be enough to break him free of the Stockholm Syndrome and they would be back to square one with him again. Though they could just kill him, too, he didn't want to risk it. Despite anything that he thought or said before, he didn't really want to kill Rudy if it didn't have to come to that. He didn't want the risk of getting arrested for murder. Especially whenever someone discovers the body.

In the end, the best thing he knew that they could do was just...taking them in somewhere and just locking them up. He couldn't allow them to roam around and alert anyone, and at least here, they could keep an eye on them.

...but they would need to keep them separate. Away from Rudy. They could not risk potentially allowing Snap and Penny to break Rudy free of their spell. Especially after how long it took them to put him in this state. They were going to need to take precautions to ensure that this didn't happen. And that meant likely storing these two with Rapsheeba.

He was well aware that Rudy had offered to speak to Rapsheeba. But if they were also going to store his friends down there... Nah, it was better that they do not allow him in there. He wasn't sure what kind of excuse that they could come up with. But regardless, they needed to ensure that Rudy never set foot in there. Otherwise, everything could be jeopardized.

He looked back over at Terry and Rudy again. He could see that, at this point, Rudy had started to settle down. Those pitiful cries of his were softening up and he was becoming quiet, just like he should be. He continued to lay against Terry, who proceeded to rub his back up and down gently. The look in Terry's eyes suggested a part of her didn't like this, but he could also tell that, regardless of what she felt, there was still a tinge of her that was liking this.

Vinnie decided to ignore that for now. They had something else more important to deal with first. He would try to speak up then and there, but he realized that, with Rudy laying there, it would be rather difficult. No, the best thing to do as just to wait until Rudy fell into a deep sleep. Then he could discuss things with Terry.

Hmm, but what to do with his friends in the meantime...?

Vinnie looked back down at the net, his eyes furrowing deeply. He couldn't let these two just lay here and just... What if they wake up and they try to escape? What if they alert Rudy to trouble? What if...

Well, that was all the more reason to be vigilant and takep recautions. Rudy was distracted right now. Perhaps he should take them down to where Rapsheeba was now. Then they could...

...but would that be a wise idea? What if Rudy heard them? He could...

Vinnie suddenly realized that they needed to figure out something else. But...what were they going to do with Rudy's little friends...?

sss

Her head spun many times a minute. It was like she was on a rollercoaster, only she had absolutely no control to get off or even see where she was going. She could only lay herself against the ground, feeling her body shake. She felt almost like she was in some kind of dream-like state. Was any of this even real...?

A part of her wanted to think that it was. A sick, twisted dream, but still a dream nonetheless. She licked her lips slowly, swallowing hard. She huddled herself inward, trying to protect herself from the nonexistent cold. It was not that bad in here, and yet for some reason, temperatures all around her felt like they had plummeted down far. She could feel goosebumps spreading through her body. She was surprised that she hadn't collapsed yet.

Though she wouldn't be surprised if that happened in the next few moments. What had happened to her... It was just so... It was so... She didn't want to think that these people were capable of doing something like...like that to her... Surely she must be dreaming or... But a quick pinch confirmed that she was, indeed, awake.

She let out a small, shaky sigh. She still just...could not believe it. She knew that she was going to sound like a broken record by the end of this all, but she just...couldn't begin to believe it. She had endured many things in her life and this was just...not something she ever expected to have to deal with. She felt her body tremble all over at the mere thought of the incident. She wanted to push it into the back of her mind, act like it never happened.

But she knew that she'd always remember. Which she was certain these two...what would Snap call them...creepazoids would want her to do.

Turning her head at the sound of something squeaking, Rapsheeba took in a sharp intake of breath when she saw...him... returning. That sleek black hair, dark black leather jacket... Cold dark brown eyes... She would never forget that. This image was permanently burned into the back of her mind. The mere sight of him was enough to make her heart pound in her chest.

The only thing that made her shift over from being afraid of him to being afraid of something else was the sight of the bag in his hands. She leaned herself forward a little, and soon as she recognized who that was in the bag, she covered her mouth, taking in a sharp breath.

Vinnie didn't seem all that interested in bothering her right now. Judging from his lack of eye contact with her and just how hastily he had thronw the bag in here, suggested that he just wanted to get that done and over with as soon as possible.

Rapsheeba watched as he left the room, leaving her alone with her friends. She struggled to keep her emotions under control as she watched him leave. She managed to control herself for the most part, but a part of her still wanted to scream.

Only when he was completely gone did she race over to Penny and Snap, who laid in the back, entangled by the glowing, light net. She limped over, her legs wobbling, the pain in her thights making it hard for her to move. She struggled to endure the horrible pain as she continued to make her way over to her friends. Seeing them in such a situation made her bear the pain more easily.

She dropped down on her knees next to them as she looked them over, his teeth gritted tightly. Just...what had happened to them...? They didn't see to be hurt, but judging from how they were just...unconscious, she just...

Rapsheeba licked her lips nervously. She tried again to keep herself under control. She would not accomplish anything if she went too crazy here. She needed to keep her mind under control. She took in a deep breath and sighed. She would just...wait until they got up. Yeah, that's it. Then she could talk to them and get this all sorted out.

sss

A groan was released from the girl's mouth as her eyes fluttered open. She forced her eyes open as she lifted her head from the cold, hard ground. Her vision was a little blurred as she looked left and right. But from what she had seen, it was more than enough for her to know that she was not at her home.

A bout of dizziness struck her, preventing her from reacting completely to her emotions. Heck, even her emotions were pretty muggy at first. She tried to keep herself from falling forward as she struggled up to her feet. Or at least, she would have, if something tight wasn't stopping her. Firm and rigid, it prevented her from moving around too much. She blinked her eyes a few times and she could see her vision coming into a sharper vision.

Lines. White lines all around her. The girl blinked a few times and shook her head as she tried to clear her vision up. None of that did anything to get rid of the lines that she was seeing. She reached a trembling hand forward, and sure enough, it was real. A solid thing that stretched all around her, covering her in its...whatever it was.

Penny still could not bring herself to fully react in the fear that she knew she should be feeling. She wasn't really sure what it was. Perhaps her mind was just too muggy and clouded to to fully realize what was going on. She rubbed her head. It was as if she had been sleeping for hours. A shadow of tiredness loomed over her. Even her eyes had a tough time staying open.

She attempted to shift herself a little, only to bump into something beside her. Something solid and warm. She turned her head and she could see that she was not alone in this situation. Trapped alongside her was someone small, white and blue in color. She blinked and it took her several moments to recognize this as Snap. It would seem that he was not awake yet.

Penny turned her head away and looked around her new surroundings. With her mind being more clear than it was before, it became pretty easy for her to tell just what was all around. Her grogginess still made it hard for her to react full on in horror, but she still felt a few pangs as she took in more and more of what she was seeing.

They were in some kind of cage. Medium sized it looked like. A little roomy, but not by much. Cold, hard, metal bars sealed her up inside. Even if she were to get up to her feet completely and tried to move around, she would still remain trapped here. She could try to get out, like say picking the lock. But she had little with her to work with, and she felt too weak to even try at the moment. Her body twitched, as though it had been electrocuted.

...which it had been...

Her eyes widened slightly as a few memories flashed through her mind. Whoever had taken her and Snap... They had used some kind of electrical device to knock them out. She could still feel the painful course of electricity pumping through them, moving up and down as though trying to claw its way through. Good thing she was still on her knees; she would have fallen down otherwise.

She made the attempt to try to figure out where she was. Even with a sharpened vision, she still could not tell completely the location where she was at. None of this looked familiar. And so far, she didn't really see any evidence either way if this was ChalkZone or the Real World. That is, until she saw that there was no boldness around the bars to indicate that it was drawn. So perhaps this was the Real World.

Or perhaps not. She reminded herself that not everything or everyone in ChalkZone actually has an outline; she recalled that, depending on the artist, some were drawn without any sort of outline to them. A difficult feat, she'd imagine. But due to this, what could be part of the Real World could just be part of ChalkZone instead.

No matter. It wasn't like either way really changed much. She and Snap were still trapped somewhere. Taken prisoner by someone, entangled in this net. Even now, she could feel it pulling against her, trying to weigh her down to the ground...

She gritted her teeth and hissed softly. She needed to figure out what she was going to do. At this point, she had become more aware of her situation, and realized she had to act fast. But right now, she just couldn't bring herself to do anything just yet. She was still so dizzy, so tired... Any attempt to flee as she was, it'd only result in her getting caught really easily. And besides, how was she going to open up this cage anyhow?

A part of Penny was a little grateful that she woke up this way. Waking up panicking wouldn't have solved much. She might have ended up hurting herself more, or even Snap. And she might have managed to upset their captor and possibly have gotten punished for that.

Upon thinking about Snap, Penny turned her head and looked down at the small zoner. He was still clearly out cold, hardly moved from his position. He was a little curved inward, making it look almost like he was just settling down for a nap. But Penny knew better. Wanting to see if she could get him to wake up before their captor came down, she reached over and gripped his shoulder and shook it gently.

"Hey, are you wake?" She whispered softly. When Snap didn't answer, she began to shake him a little harder. "Come on, Snap. It's time for you to wake up. You can't just lay there forever."

Snap groaned softly, his eyes starting to flutter. He blinked slowly, eventually his eyes remaining open. Part way, but still open nonetheless. He lifted his head off the ground and stretched his jaws open in a yawn as thought he really had been only napping. He smacked his lips a few times and he looked up at where Penny was. It didn't seem like he recognized her at first, and he looked as though he was smiling almost goofily.

Penny flinched slightly at this. She wondered for a split second of Snap had been struck in the head or something. He was certainly acting that way. She could feel her heart skip several beats as she stared at him, and she placed her hand over her chest as she tried to calm herself down. She stared at Snap for a few moments, waiting to see if he would try to give a better reaction. But as he didn't, Penny slightly tightened her gip on his shoulder.

"Snap, we're in trouble. You have to get up. Come on..."

Still, Snap didn't really move all that much. He licked his lips a bit, his eyes never leaving her. He still had that dull expression. It was as if he was still stuck in dream land, and he was seeing her as something else entirely. In that case, Penny seized him even more firmly than before and this time when she shook him, she was a bit more relentless.

"Wake up, you blue idiot!" Penny shouted as she shook Snap as though he were just a ragdoll. "I said wake up!"

At first, Snap only babbled a little, a few incoherent words and sentences rather than a full statement. It took a little while, but eventually he did actually start talking. His eyes blinked more quickly, and his babbling began to cease. He paused himself and shook his head. He blinked more forcibly this time, and when he looked around, it was as though reality had finally started to sink into his mind.

"Where... What...?" Snap muttered. He turned his head left and right, his wide eyes taking in sights all around him. He then looked at Penny, this time his eyes no longer held that blank stare. "Penny...where are we..?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Penny took another moment to look around. Once more, she didn't find much revealing about this place, other than it was a bit dark and obviously an artificial structure. "I can't tell if we're in ChalkZone or in..."

"We're in the Real World." Snap muttered suddenly. Penny turned and looked at him with a surprised expression. Snap whispered again as though he thought she didn't hear him the first time. "We are definitley in the Real World."

Penny leaned a little closer to her friend. "What makes you say that?"

Snap turned to look at her. One eye frowned and the other widened. He lifted up his hand and motioned it towards her. "I don't know of many places in ChalkZone where a drip of water would do this."

Penny clenched her teeth tightly when she saw the small burn mark on Snap's hand. It was not too bad, despite its reddened coloration. At least it was small and it would heal up quite nicely soon.

But seeing it made her realize that Snap had to be correct. This had to be the Real World. It was true that there were places and things in ChalkZone that would have burned Snap's skin, those were rather obvious. Often they were steaming themselves or were of a different color. But the liquid dripping from one spot in this cage, where Snap had to scoot away from, it was clear, like any liquid from the Real World. No bluish tinge either.

It was in that moment that a few more memories flashed through Penny's head. She vaguely recalled that, after she and Snap were attacked with electricity, they were thrown through some kind of white-lined hole.

...a portal...

Penny sucked in a sharp breath, her teeth clenched tightly against each other. "We've been kidnapped by Terry...or Vinnie...or both..." She looked down, her eyes locking onto Snap's widened ones. "We have to get out of here, before..."

"Except you won't be."

Penny and Snap stiffened up at that comment. They looked around, left and right, trying to figure out just who had spoken to them. They soon found a figure standing on the far end of the cage. It was hard to tell at first who it was, but that voice was enough to give away who it was.

"I am so sorry that we had to meet here like this." The figure said, giving a small sigh of regret. "I really wish that this would have gone so much better..."

Snap risen up even further. The net stretched along his head as he did so. Even when he started to stretch a little too far, he still managed to straighten himself all the way. Penny felt the net stretch against her in response. "R-Rapsheeba..?" Snap whispered softly. He paused for a few moments as the figure looked over him silently. "I-Is that you...?"

The figure gave a small sigh. Then, turning around, it became rapidly clear that Snap's guess had been correct. "I do sincerely apologize if I had worried you two."

Penny and Snap didn't answer right away. They could only stare in shock as they found out that the other person here with them was Rapsheeba. The same zoner who had disappeared a couple days ago, whom they had been trying to find... She had been here the whole time? Was this also where Rudy was? A part of their minds recalled something like that, but...

Emotions ran too high for Snap to hold completely still. Penny let out a loud cry of surprise as the white and blue zoner rushed over to where Rapsheeba was located. Her eyes widened in shock as he lunged for her, his arms managing to stretch out of the holes of the net. He gripped onto her tightly and pulled her in close.

"Oh Queenie! I'm so happy you're okay! You..." Snap was not able to finish when Rapsheeba suddenly pushed him back. The superhero zoner clashed against the ground painfully. He shook his head and he looked up at her in horror. "...Rapsheeba...?"

Penny was about to say something when she noticed how Rapsheeba was behaving. Any amount of anger she had towards her had vanished quickly. She noticed that Rapsheeba was trembling, a flash of fear in her eyes. She exchanged a nervous look with Snap before she gazed back upon Rapsheeba.

This... This wasn't normal... The way Rapsheeba looked at them, how she huddled against herself, how she looked like she was ready to defend herself at all costs... This wasn't the Rapsheeba that either of them knew. This had to be related to whatever Vinnie and Terry had done to her. Though fearful of the response, Penny forced herself to squeak out the unwanted question.

"W-What happened...?"

Rapsheeba just looked at her for a few seconds before lowering her head solemnly and immediately started to shed tears.

sss

Seeing Rapsheeba like this was enough to make Snap's heart skip several beats. He found it difficult to tear himself away from the sight. Every inch of him wanted to just rip off the netting covering him and pull Rapsheeba into a reassuring hug. The only thing that stopped him from doing so, other than the net himself, is his uncertainty.

What if Rapsheeba pushed him again? What if she shriekd when he came closer? What if he ended up frightening her more? He didn't want to scare her again. He didn't know what he had done to make her so frightened of him, but he didn't want to risk frightening her yet again.

Poor Rapsheeba... He could only begin to imagine just what she had been put through. He could only imagine all the horror that she was forced to endure here. He had no idea what Vinnie or Terry had done to her, but seeing Rapsheeba's reaction, he knew it was nothing good. This realization was enough to make his blood heat up and nearly burn up inside his body.

He shook his head a few times. He couldn't let himself get too worked up over that. Those two would eventually get what was coming to them. He would be sure of that. Right now, Rapsheeba needed their comforting. She needed someone to tell her it was going to be all right. She might not be receptive of physical comforting, but surely she would allow them to speak to her.

"Rapsheeba, it's going to be okay." Snap spoke, trying to be as gentle as possible. "I know you are scared and frightened. You have every right to be." He licked his lips nervously. "But there's no need to be scared with us. We are your friends." When the singer zoner didn't respond, Snap whispered, "...Rapsheeba...please..."

Rapsheeba could only manage a quick look at him before turning her head away, sniffling a little. She shut her eyes tightly, more tears dripping down her face as she did so. She took in several shaky breaths, each one sounding more broken than the last one. The sight o f this, combined with that sound, was more than enough to make Snap's heart skip a beat.

Oh Rapsheeba... Just what did Vinnie and Terry do to her? What could they have done to make her so scared and frightened...? He could see a few marks on her, which indicated she had been hurt. But he could not see any signs of an injury bad enough to make her this scared. Did she have internal wounds...? Snap struggled not to throw up what thought as he attempted to move a little closer to Rapsheeba, taking care not to move too fast or else he may cause her to panic further.

"Shhh... It's all right. It's okay..." Snap raised his hand up and motioned it towards Rapsheeba. He flinched when he saw her cringe away from him. "We're not going to hurt you.."

Penny spoke up as well, using a quite, gentle voice. "We're your friends here. Don't you recognize us?" There was a tinge of desperation on her voice, as though she were trying to hold onto the hope that Rapsheeba does remember them. "Please don't fight us. We're here to help you. Please, we..."

Rapsheeba's lower lip quivered as she squeaked out. "I-I know..."

There was a brief moment of relief at this and the two smiled at her. But they soon began to frown lightly. Not out of anger of course, but out of confusion.

"Then why are you...?" Penny asked, her brown eyes scanning Rapsheeba's body up and down. "Wh-What happened to you...?"

Rapsheeba gritted her teeth at this. She pressed her back against the cage's bars, her head lowering and turning to one side. She remained silent for several moments, looking as though she really didn't want to talk. "I-I... I..." She attempted to speak, only to have her voice constantly slip, her tongue wrestling to say whatever it is she was trying to say. "It was...horrible..."

"I wouldn't doubt it..." Snap nodded his head solemnly. He already knew it was bad. Even though the female zoner hadn't actually said what happened yet, he could tell from the look on her face that it was still quite horrible. "...You can tell us, you know that? We are your friends."

Rapsheeba stared at them for a few seconds. She could clearly see their gentle expressions, their small smiles as they trie dto silently reassure her. She looked a little comforted by this, but she still turned her head away, rubbing her chest a little as though she had ate something poisonous. She looked almost...ashamed. As if she had done something to feel guilty about. But..what could have...

They weren't able to ask her anything before there was a sudden door slam, causing them all to jump. Penny and Snap looked around frantically as they tried to see just what was going on. They tried to see just who had done that, but so far, they could see nothing.

Rapsheeba, on the other hand, had frozen up in place, her eyes widening in horror. She didn't bother looking around; she just stared out ahead, her teeth clenched nervously. There were a thousand emotions racing through her head and her whole body started to quiver as though she were cold. The two had noticed this almost right away and it was what told them who was coming, and further confirmed that Raspheeba went through hell here.

"I'm not staying long, don't worry." The dark, familiar voice called out. Hasty, clearly in a hurry. A shadow formed on the wall. "I just want check something. I imagine you will still be good, right?"

Vinnie appeared moments later, his body partialy obscured by the lighting of the room. Though Rapsheeba hadn't seen him directly, her stiffening body showed that she was more than aware of his presence, even if she didn't hear his voice.

The short human made his way over to the cage. His dark, nearly black eyes noticed Penny and Snap were awake. He gave them a quick smirk, but appeared to dismiss them altogether as he looked down at Rapsheeba. His lip curled up slightly into a snarl as he studied her from a distance.

It was so hard to see Rapsheeba trying to look brave. Her attempts were failing miserably, with how she huddled into herself and gave a few soft whimpers. She didn't even try to turn around and look at him, as though she was so scared that she couldn't even think to look at him. She crossed her legs to each other and put her face against her arms.

Vinnie gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, I know you are still upset about that, but you can't keep letting it bug you that much. You will only make it worse for yourself." Vinnie moved closer to the cage, wearing a frown on his face. "And besides, it wouldn't have happened if you just told me what we wanted."

Rapsheeba just trembled at this, letting out a small whine as she turned her head away. Vinnie glared at this, baring his teeth slightly.

"Why must you make it worse for yourself, you stupid zoner?!"

Penny and Snap glared at this obvious apathy to Rapsheeba's pain. It was clear that Vinnie didn't care how scared Rapsheeba was. He only cared about that information. The two of them wanted to speak up to him, to do something, but they remained silent. They feared that if they tried to speak, they could end up provoking the man into taking action against their friend.

Vinnie didn't seem like he had a lot of patience for the singer zoner. Without any warning, he suddenly launched his hand towards her and grabbed onto the back of her neck. Rapsheeba let out a shriek as she was suddenly pulled back, her body being rammed against the bars. Penny and Snap gasped in horror at this, their eyes widening.

"Answer me you little...!"

"Vinnie!"

The black-haired man suddenly froze at this. He stared at Rapsheeba for a few seconds before he lifted his head up and stared over at where the sound had come from. He took in a few slow breaths before he shouted back, "What do you want? I'm busy!"

"Come out here! I need to talk to you!" That voice... It was clearly Terry's. If they didn't have it confirmed before, now they knew for certain that she was also involved with this. "...and let go of that zoner!"

Vinnie clenched his teeth tightly at this, seething. He glared down at Rapsheeba before pushing her back as hard as she could. Rapsheeba let out a help of pain as she found herself colliding against the ground. Vinnie watched her with cold eyes before he turned and began to walk away.

"Vinnie! Now!" Terry shouted.

"I'm coming! Sheesh!" Vinnie replied as he made his way out of the door. "Hold your horses, will you, sister?!"

Snap and Penny glared as the man walked away before turning their attention back to their friend. They moved over the best that they could, and pressed themselves against her shivering form. They looked down at her sadly as they listened to her cry harder. They would have asked what happened, but she was clearly not in the mood. So they just allowed her to keep crying softly, cuddling up with her and trying to help her feel better. What did those monsters do to her...?

sss

Vinnie grumbled to himself. Of all the times for Terry to interrupt him...

He just wanted to talk to Rapsheeba for a little bit. He wanted to see if his actions would help to...coax her to actually talk to him. He wanted to see if he could actually get any more information out of her.

But no, Terry just had to ruin it, didn't she? She just had to pull him out of there and make him come up to her and... Urgh, sometimes he wished that she would just shut up for a few minutes. That's all he was asking. Just a few minutes so he could try something his way. Was that so wrong?

Well according to Terry, it was.

Grumbling to himself yet again, Vinnie continued his way to where Terry had been yelling from. He quickened his pace. The last thing he wanted was to be late and make her yell at him more. As much as he sometimes wanted to slap her, he refrained; he was not interested in going to jail again. Besides, striking Terry would solve nothing.

It didn't take him that long to reach the living room where Terry was located. He was not at all surprised to see that Rudy was curled up on the couch. It was hard to tell if the little tyke was actually sleeping or not. He had his head turned away. But he was able to tell that he was crying. His breathing was quite trembling and shaky, and he could hear a few small sniffles.

Actually this would mean he was awake, right? At the very least, a little awake, enough that he was still sniffling loudly. Vinnie shook his head a couple of times, refocusing his attention on Terry. He locked eyes with her frown, his own eyes narrowing, and proceeded to move closer towards her.

He had to wonder just what she wanted to talk to him about. It had to be urgent for her to want him to come over so quickly, right? She sounded so irritated before. And it couldn't be about certain parts of their plan; Terry would never reveal that to Rudy. So to be on the safe side, Vinnie kept his mouth clenched tightly. He didn't want to be on Terry's bad side should he accidentally slip up.

Terry didn't speak up for a few moments. She looked down at Rudy once more. Her eyes remained narrowed, even as she moved her hands along the back of his head, carefully stroking his hair. With her gaze still down, she eventually spoke up. "Do you have any idea what's going to happen now?"

Vinnie blinked his eyes a few times. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. But...was it a good idea to talk about it in front of Rudy? He licked his lips once and he struggled to think of a response that would not expose too much. "Well, I imagine there'll be a lot of additional...police activity..."

Terry nodded her head. "Yes, and that's..." She paused for a moment. She looked back up at Vinnie. She frowned at him curiously, confused by his disposition. She soon appeared to realize what the issue was and she gave him a half smile. "Oh don't worry. I gave Rudy a sleeping pill. He's already drifted off."

Vinnie blinked at this. He looked down at Rudy once more. Upon looking more carefully, he could see that, indeed, he was asleep completely this time. His head had shifted around and it was enough for him to see that his eyes were completely, lightly closed. Vinnie felt a brief moment of relief and relaxed, and he looked back at Terry.

"Well that was fast." He commented before releasing a small exhale of breath. "And yes, I am fully aware of the issue with those two involved." He paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. "Well make it just the one. No one here cares about the blue idiot. But the little genius girl..."

Terry narrowed her eyes at this. "Indeed. That will be a huge problem. We will need to figure out something that we can do about that." The red-haired reporter looked down at Rudy. There was a brief flash of disgust in her eyes as she kept stroking his hair, her fingers running through his strands. "It's hard enough being nice to one of them. But that Penny girl is smart. She wouldn't fall for anything we try like Rudy did."

"Yeah and he took forever." Vinnie placed his hand against his forehead. "Even if Penny did start trusting us, it would be much longer, and that would only make things harder on us."

"Indeed. We are going to have to be a lot more careful now." Terry looked over at the door, which was hidden behind a curb of the wall, an off limits section for Rudy for obvious reasons. Thankfully, it hadn't been hard keeping him away from there. "We should limit our trips even more, and make due with what we have. We need to keep Rudy convinced that we are snowed in."

Vinnie nodded his head in agreement. "Also keep him out of the kitchen." He added. "We don't want him finding out when food is disappearing and magically reappearing." He gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "I...think he'd be quite suspicious after that..."

"Gee you think?" Terry spoke sarcastically.

Was this all that Terry needed to tell him? It wasn't really like he didn't already know. It was a no brainer that things would get tougher with Penny now in their 'care'. They were going to need to read more lightly now, more so than ever before. If they were not careful, they could...

...but there was something else, wasn't there? There had to be. Why else would Terry really want him to come over and speak to her? Why else would she yell at him to hurry up? There was something else going on here and he could feel it upon his fingertips. Something just felt...wrong. Something was missing. But what could that be? What was he not thinking of...?

"We need to do something about Penny Sanchez." Terry said. She paused for a moment, and then added. "Along with Snap White."

Vinnie tilted his head to one side at this. "Like what? We have them as our prisoners. They can't do anything..."

"...except they could alert Rudy." Terry pointed out. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she gave a quick glance at the boy. "If we are not careful, then they could inform Rudy of what is going on and break our hold over him."

"What? But how..." Vinnie's eyes widened in realization. "Oh..."

Terry closed her eyes lightly. "We need to make sure that they never speak to Rudy. We need to make sure that they do not have a chance to tell him what is going on. Rudy musn't hear a woard about this." Her eyes opened. "Which means we will need to take drastic measures."

"What did you have in mind...?"

Vinnie shuddered at Terry's expression.

sss

Penny gasped in horror, putting her hands to her mouth, and stared at Rapsheeba. She looked at her up and down, a part of her waiting, hoping that this was some kind of a sick joke. There was no way that this could have happend. She...She must have misunderstood something or...

But all Rapsheeba did was look up at her with watery eyes, her lip curling down and constantly whimpering. There was nothing on her face that indicated that she was lying. Nothing at all to say that she was just trying to trick them. Nothing but a terrified, trembling zoner laid before them.

She exchanged glances with Snap. He looked as horrified and disgusted as she did. He could see the burning rage behind his watery eyes. She could see how his body trembled with shere emotion. He then looked back at Rapsheeba. If they were still in the net, he would have just remained there. But since they were finally out, the blue and white zoner rushed over quickly.

"Queenie...!" Snap cried out as he grabbed onto Rapsheeba. Unlike before, she didn't attempt to struggle all that much. Snap pulled her close to him, allowing her to cry against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry that this happened... I'm really sorry..."

Penny watched the scene play out before her with a twisting heart. She bit her lip, sucking on it, and she felt her heart twist and yank. She was struggling so hard not to drop onto her knees and throw up. She placed her hand on her stomach and she began to rub it back and forth, attempting to soothe the nausea that was spreading throughout her belly. It did start to settle down, but just barely.

How could she calm down after hearing what she did? How could she relax knowing what had happened to Rapsheeba? How could she stop her mind from swirling with burning, chilly thoughts after knowing that Vinnie had... He had...

Oh, she couldn't bring herself to even think it. It was just too horrible. It was something she never thought Vinnie would do, let alone to someone like Rapsheeba, who wasn't even human to start with. Penny looked over at Rapsheeba with a solemn expression, biting her lip firmly. Her heart skipped several beats as she watched how Rapsheeba continued to sob against Snap, who continued to do try doing whatever he could to help her feel better.

It was times like these Penny had to stop and wonder about the state of the world sometimes. How could people like Vinnie be allowed to exist? How could life be so cruel? Vinnie was far from the only asshole that she knew; Terry had been a monster herself. She had permanently damaged her friend's heart, and now she had brainwashed him and...

To make matters worse, there was little that she could do for Rapsheeba in terms of bringing her justice. Rudy was one thing. Not many liked Terry after what she had done, and Terry had done all of this in the Real World, with someone from the Real World.

But Rapsheeba...? That was another matter entirely. How was she going to get proper justice for Rapsheeba? Not many were going to really bother with Raspheeba because she's a drawing, and getting proof would be quite hard and... Penny gritted her teeth, seething through the small spaces between them. She wished that the system didn't have to make this so difficult. She wished that Rapsheeba being a zoner didn't complicate things.

Though she was aware that Snap had testified years ago and informed everyone of how Terry had kidnapped him. So at first, it seemed like it could work. But in addition to getting proof of the incident being difficult if they were in the Real World, Vinnie and Terry could be more prepared and do something to show that Rapsheeba was not human. Once it was revealed she really was 'just a living drawing', support and sympathy for her would drop.

And that was just disgusting... But Penny was aware that was how it was likely going to be. It was for these factors that made her realize just how hard it was going to be to bring justice for Rapsheeba. And the thought made her heart clench tightly.

Not knowing what else she could do, Penny made her way over towards the trembling zoners. She watched as they huddled up against each other. Rapsheeba had the side of her face pressed against Snap's shoulder. Her eyes were closed tightly and tears kept flowing forth from them. Snap was stroking her hair gently and trying whatever he could to calm her down. But nothing he did seemed to help her. Snap lifted his head and stared at Penny almost helplessly.

Penny couldn't think of what to say. She wished she could say something...anything... but nothing came to her mind. All she could do was just..stare helplessly right back at Snap before lowering her head. She felt so useless at that point. What kind of friend was she if she couldn't even...

No, she couldn't let herself think like that. The fact that she was here for them was more important. Even if she couldn't think of anything right now, sooner or later, they would figure out something. For now, she had to do whatever she could to comfort them. Especially Rapsheeba.

Without hesitating further, Penny moved in closer and wrapped her arms around the shaky zoners. Her hands pressed against Snap's back and she gently pulled him towards her. This caused Rapsheeba to be pressed against her as well. The female singer zoner now laid sandwiched between the two of them as she continued to cry and whimper. Penny paid no mind to how Rapsheeba's shaking was making her body quake along with her and she just held on tightly. She and Snap kept her secured in the embrace, letting her release her emotions.

As she watched poor Rapsheeba spill out her heart, Penny clenched her teeth and hissed softly. The mere thought of Vinnie made her want to throw up burning blood. She wasn't sure how well she could control herself. The mere sight of his face would be enough to make her want to attack.

But she knew that such a thing would only end in disaster. She would only end up bringing more trouble to herself and the others. She could have to keep herself under control, even if it was quite difficult.

Sighing, she looked down at Rapsheeba once more, taking in a deep breath and exhaling. She wasn't sure what they were going to do, but at least they could be here for Rapsheeba. She and Snap continued to hold onto her, hearing her cries echo off the walls all around them.

sss

Taking one more look to make sure that Rudy was asleep, Terry pulled her head back into the bedroom and looked over at Vinnie. She struggled to keep herself under control, not wanting to do or say anything to make this more serious than it had to be.

But that's what it was, right? Serious.. Because the situation just got more complicated. She gritted her teeth, feeling a bout of frustration move through her body. They had gotten so close, and for this to happen, she just...

Well, there was nothing that could be done. They might as well just...do what they can with this, right? Maybe it would all work out in the end. Maybe...

"What are you thinking, sister?" Vinnie's voice called out to her through the silence. "You told us that we need to keep those two brats quiet. But.." He raised his hadn up in gesture. "How are we going to do that without hurting them? You know we would lose Rudy's trust if we..."

"Yes, I know. And we can't afford to lose that just yet." Terry lowered her head and rubbed her forehead. She tried to make this darn headache go away, but it was persistant. "I am just...not sure what we are going to do."

Vinnie raised an eyebrow at this. "You, Terry Bouffant, don't know what to do?" He gave a small chuckle and folded his arms to his chest. "Well I have seen everything."

Terry shot him a glare. "Oh can it!"

"Hey." Vinnie raised his hands up, showing her his palms. "Just saying."

Terry growled at this, but ultimately remained silent. She couldn't really stay mad at him for long. It wasn't like he was being untruthful. He was quite correct. She usually had the answers. She usually could think of something. But for this, for whatever reason, she just...couldn't. She could feel a strange sensation inside of her and it made her feel all the more confused. It was as if she...couldn't figure out what to do anymore. It was so strange.

Vinnie cocked an eyebrow at this, noticing her expression. "I think I know why." Terry gave him a sideways glance, a part of her not really expecting him to have the answer, yet still kind of hoping that he did. "You are growing too attached to that boy."

Terry widened her eyes at this, and then she narrowed them. "Oh come on, this again?! Come on, Vinnie, be serious! You can't.."

"Oh but I am being serious." Vinnie cut her off. He folded his large arms together, glaring at the red haired woman. "I've seen the way you are with him, and I have seen your behavior change. This went from just manipulating him...into something more."

Terry could feel herself start to shake. "You know full well that..."

"I admit, I am...feeling the same way...I think." Vinnie confessed. He lowered his eyes to the ground, a somewhat shameful expression plastering over his face. "I tred to lie myself, but who am I kidding?" He looked up at Terry and gave her a partial smile. "He's starting to grow on me a little."

Terry looked at him in shock, her eyes bulging. "Y-You...?"

Vinnie nodded his head. "I'm not sure what it is about him. And I don't want to feel this way, but I..."

Terry closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I know.."

"So...what do you think we should do about this? What do you think that we could do regarding this situation?" Vinnie looked down at the ground as he spoke, licking his lips nervously. "I mean.. I'm at a loss here. But if we don't think of something soon, we..."

"Yeah I know. I'm stumped myself as you know. I wish this could be easier, but..." Terry paused for a moment, sucking on her lip. "But..well, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by any of this. After all, we are in possession of those children now and..."

"Yeah...I know."

Yes, it was going to be difficult, wasn't it? Trying to decide on the fate of those two children. Or at least, Penny. That was the one that they were most concerned about. Snap, if they did something...too far, they could erase the evidence. That same thing wasn't as possible with Penny, however. She was a human being for crying out loud. They couldn't just...

Terry contemplated the idea of killing Snap so that they would have one less irritant to worry about. They could easily redraw him and make the replacement act just like Snap. It would be like nothing ever happened. It could work...

..except that it wouldn't. Neither of them possessed all the memories that Snap did. Rudy would spot an imposter almost right away, and then he would want to know what happened to Snap. And if he found out what they had done to him before they were done with Rudy, then they could kiss this whole operation goodbye.

So Snap had to stay. But that only continued to make things complicated. She wished that she could rewind time and try to do whatever she could to prevent this from happening. But that wasn't a possibility, now was it? Well there was ChalkZone, and it could work, but... No, it was too risky. She didn't want to end up accidentally damaging the timeline for something like this. So in the end, they were stuck.

She could feel her fingertips starting to burn from the shere frustration of it all. She wondered if Vinnie felt the same way. Most likely, perhaps even more so, given his temperament. Not that she could blame him. She herself was slowly being pushed to wits end. What had started off as straight forward, if not long, thing was becoming far more complicated than she had ever imagined. She realized then and there that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Heh, perhaps it was better off that they just killed Rudy before and make a run for it. If they were this good at hiding for so long without anyone finding them, then perhaps if they had killed Rudy, they could have hung out here until things quieted down.

She immediately froze at that thought, her eyes going wide. She felt her mouth open up a little as she breathed in and out at a slightly quickened rate. She allowed her mind to mull over the thoughts a little, contemplating them.

That was...an option, wasn't it? Now that she thought about it, maybe she and Vinnie did already have all that they needed. They did get Rudy to get more magic chalk and he did bring it all back here with him. He had them laying near the couch, didn't he? They had a way in and now they were a lot more knowledgeable about ChalkZone than ever before. Perhaps... Perhaps they didn't even need that little boy anymore...

Terry frowned at this. Wait, there was one thing she couldn't forget. She recalled that they had wanted more information from Rapsheeba regarding zoner breeding. That had been mostly to keep Rudy happy, to preserve the zoners so that they don't dwindle in case something happened. But it could also be reworked into something a lot more...useful. Perhaps it was best to get that done first. And then they could...

Terry wasn't really sure why she didn't feel that same spark of excitement as before. It was quite odd. After all, when they first found Rudy in the snow, she relished in the idea of stomping on his chest and making his heart stop beating. So why wasn't she feeling the same now? Why was she feeling almost...hesitant about the whole thing? Could Vinnie have been right about her? And himself?

Terry shook the thoughts out of her head. She couldn't afford to get soft right now. She had to focus on the business of this situation. She had to squash out whatever feelings were starting to show and concentrate on what needed to be done. And if what had to be done involved...that, then so be it.

After all, if Vinnie could handle...toying...with Rapsheeba, then surely she could do this, right?

But in the end, whether she wanted to admit it or not, it was going to be difficult. She let out a small sigh as she turned her head and stared over at Vinnie, who had fallen completely silent throughout the whole thing. She wasn't entirely sure how he would feel about this, with the decision of Rudy and how that would correlate with Penny and Snap, perhaps even Rapsheeba later on, but at part of her realized that he might not be too surprised.

So it was time to tell him, otherwise he was going to surely snap at her sooner or later. Might as well get it over with, right? And besides...maybe in the end... this would all work out for the best. Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult.

"I might have an idea..." Her voice trailed off for a moment. She bit her lip and sucked on it, feeling a bout of hesitation cling to her throat. She fought against it, and soon she continued with, "But I'd like to hear your thoughts on it."

Vinnie raised an eyebrow at this. "Well okay. I'm not sure if either of us could really think of a doable solution to this." He shrugged his shoulders. "But...if you feel like you've got something... Okay, I'd like to hear it. What is your idea?"

Terry took in a deep breath and let out a long, low sigh. "I know this..this might not be something that we wanted to do this early, and I am not entirely sure how it would work out, but...but what if we..."

Tension filled the air as Terry confessed to what she thought of doing. Not that it was completely new or anything. But for some reason, there was a different context to it. A different set of feelings associated with this. Even if she was still angry at Rudy for locking her up, that didn't stop this from being more complicated than it had to be.

In the end, Vinnie was just as stunned as she expected him to be, even given the circumstance. Even if they had pondered this before, just...talking about it was enough to leave them both stricken with shock, especially after all the time they had spent with that kid.

Heh, maybe they really were starting to grow on him, as Vinnie suspected...

Vinnie continued to stare at her in shock, his dark eyes reflecting the same disbelief in his eyes as hers was. He slowly licked his lips in a steady circle and he took a small step back from her. An uneven silence filled the air around them as neither of them spoke for several minutes, which began to feel like long, painful hours.

Then finally, after many more moments of utter quietness, Vinnie spoke in a low tone. "Are you...joking...?"

sss

Blinking her eyes slowly, Rapsheeba looked around. Her previous, fleeting feeling of excitement of maybe being out of here was squashed really fast. Just as quick as it came, it was gone and she could see that she was still in this gawd forsaken place.

She had woken up like this before. Not long after the incident. She had passed out after Vinnie left her be and she cried until she lost consciousness. She didn't know exactly how long she was out. When she had woken up, it had felt like a dream for the first few seconds. Then the physical pain reminded her of what really happened. And she broke down again.

At least this time, she didn't wake up all by herself. She had been fortunate to have been recently caged with two friends, Penny and Snap. She soon flinched as she realized what she thought. No, this was not fortunate. At least not for her friends. She never wanted them to be dragged into this. But at the same time...yeah, that's what it felt like. Lucky perhaps was a better word.

She could feel herself being pressed between. Her moment of confusion regarding why she couldn't move never came into fruition. Any energy working up in her body to feel terrified about that had faded away completely. Her body, slightly tense, had relaxed and she found herself pressing the side of her head against Snap. She took in a deep breath and sighed.

Her mind was abuzz with many rapidly moving thoughts. She struggled to keep them under control. She tried to push them aside, clear her mind before it got too crowded. But in the end, she found it impossible. Even with her eyes closed, she could still see, with her mind's eye, what happened to her earlier.

The way Vinnie held her down, the way he had spoken to her, the way that he had...

She grunted at this as she closed her eyes tightly, her teeth gritting against one another and seething. She took in slow steady breaths as she tried to keep herself calm and stable. She had to try to..disassociate herself from that situation. Yeah, act like it had happened to someone else, and have her be nothing more than a bystander to the situation.

A bystander who could feel the same sharp pain as an actual victim would...

She sucked in a sharp breath at that thought. She tried so hard not to laugh at it. She couldn't stop herself from giving a small smirk, as though the whole situation was funny, even though she knew that it wasn't. She kept herself still on the ground, feeling her body stiffen a little bit. She could feel a brief, cold sensation crawling through her body momentarily before she just...gave out and nearly collapsed, despite already being on the ground.

She had no idea what she was going to do, in all honesty. She just...didn't know what to do... She never felt so conflicted and confused before. Then again, nothing like this had ever happened to her. It was not something she heard often in ChalkZone either. Like it were just a phenomenon that mainly occurred in the Real World and... She gasped at the thought of Rudya nd Penny having to deal with it.

But her thoughts soon closed in around herself. It was like they had formed a circle of pebbles, going around and around, and they were about to move in shoot at her heart from all sides. She could feel the blow from each one, and she clutched her chest tightly, hissing softly. Her mind felt as though it was turning into a hardened, heavy block, and that at any given moment, it was going to come crashing down and break into many pieces.

She gave another glance down at her friends beside her, biting her lip a little. Then she wriggled herself out of them. She felt slightly guilty doing it, but she just... She couldn't feel entirely comforted by their closeness right now. Not that she wasn't grateful for them being there or anything. She just...needed to get away for a few moments, you know? Get a breather for a few minutes. That was all.

Soon she made her way over to the bars of her cell and leaned up against them. Getting over her was a little problematic; she could feel herself wobbling a little, her legs feeling as though they could collapse at any given moment. She held onto the bars tightly, being the only thing that kept her face from smashing into the ground. Soon she pressed her forehead against the bars and released a sigh.

What was she going to do about this? A part of her just wanted to curl up and stay like that forever. A part of her just wanted to forget that this whole thing had ever happened. Just to...close her eyes and drift herself off and pretend like it happened to someone else or pretend that it was some kind of horrible dream.

Yet again, the pain reminded her of the cold, harsh reality of it all. She could feel the jolts of pain in her legs, like someone had taken a dull knife and was trying to pry them through into the flesh. She struggled to push that pain aside, struggled to help herself cope with it. But the pain just continued, and she took in a trembling gasp of breath as a result.

How could anyone have done such a thing? How could anyone be so cruel? She knew it was almost...cliche to think like that, and she knew that the answer would be 'because some people just are'. Yet for her, it wasn't a satisfactory answer. It didn't really quell her thoughts or anything. It just made her huddle inwards against herself, and she felt her eyes darting left and right, as if trying to find a hidden danger in here, even though she was only with two of her best friends.

If anyone could do this...how would she feel safe again? Even if she got herself back into ChalkZone City, how could she walk the streets knowing that someone there could hurt her, too? Yes, it was not so common. At least, she never heard too many reports about it. But it could still happen and...

Oh gawd, she didn't want to go through that again. She didn't want to be placed in that situation again. She would never want anyone to go through something like that. If only there was some way to just... figure out ahead of time, then maybe she could better prepare and...

But there wasn't any way to know, was there? She could try to think as much as she could, but she wouldn't get anywhere. There was no way to predict a behavioral action in anyone. Sure some ideas could come into play. But in the end, anyone can surprise anyone, for better or for worse. And this situation was no different.

The only thing that she did know for certain as that this sort of thing was not as common in ChalkZone City, and that was of some comfort to her. Once she got home, she could...

...wait... That was it, wasn't it? There wasn't much of this in ChalkZone City because it was populated by zoners. But here in the Real World, it was occupied with humans...

She shook her head at that thought. How could she have thought of something like that? Her dear friends Rudy and Penny were human, yet she would never think that they would hurt her like that. But then, Vinnie was an adult human, and it was the adult humans that usually did something like that, wasn't it? At least...if Vinnie was a shining example of...

Rapsheeba felt herself grit her teeth, feeling a small burning sensation crawling up her body. She felt as though she had the answer. There was something wrong with the older humans. There was something wrong with all of them. And as this realization clicked on, so did another budding emotion.

Hatred.

She didn't have time to fully process this, however. She turned her head when she heard the sound of clicking and squeaking, then the clanging of a door. She looked over and she could see that someone was approaching. She curled her lip up in contempt. What did these...human adults...want with her now?

She tried to hide her brief flash of fear when she saw Vinnie approach her. She could see flashes in front of her eyes when she saw images of what Vinnie had done to her before. She struggled to control her racing heart as Vinnie took position in front of her. She lifted her head and she stared at him long and hard. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly and attempted to put on a bravado.

"Wh-What do you want...?" Rapsheeba was shocked how emotionless and stuttery her voice sounded. Her attempts to sound braver were not translating well from brain to action. "Here to...gloat again...?"

Vinnie's face flashed a brief expression that she couldn't really read all that well. It was almost like remorse and yet... No, Vinnie couldn't be feeling bad about what he had done. He was just a 'human adult' after all. So why was he really here...?

After shaking off the expression, Vinnie tilted his head to one side and he began to speak to her. "There's been a change in plans."

Rapsheeba struggled not to allow herself to panic over this. She had to keep her cool. She could not let this...this human see that she was afraid. She clenched her teeth tightly, narrowing her eyes into slits. "Oh really now? Heh..." She spat bitterly. "Your current plans too much to handle, then?"

Vinnie blinked at this, but said nothing in response to that. Instead, he said, "I am not obligated to tell you, and even if I were... You wouldn't like it anyway."

"Gee, what a big surprise." Rapsheeba said as she rolled her eyes. She paused for a moment as she felt a small clenching in her chest. "...what are you and your...partner...planning? You're not going to...hurt my friends, are you?"

There was an uneasy silence that followed. Vinnie just looked at her long and hard. She coudn't really tell if this was a confession of some sort or not. But there was just...something about the way that he was looking at her, that she couldn't just... She snapped her head back, feeling her heart racing agaisnt her chest.

Once she found her voice, she narrowed her eyes and said, "I-I won't let you...!"

Vinnie merely shrugged his shoulders. He reached over and he grabbed onto her shirt collar. She let out a small gag as she was suddenly thrusted forward. She squirmed about in his grasp, her head jolting from one side to the other. She found it difficult to tear her eyes away from his.

But Vinnie didn't do anything else. He was just...holding her there. He didn't allow her to move away from him, yet he did not raise his hand to hurt her like last time. It was like he just preferred controlling her instead, showing her how helpless she really was.

And those eyes...it was like they were silently daring to try... Try and fight back. Try to do something to get herself out of that situation. Try to free herself and slug this human. But for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to move.

And that realization made herself freeze. At this, Vinnie's blank expression shifted as he curled a dark, twisted smile across his face, chuckling darkly. All she could do was just stare at him in horror, watching as he brought his hands towards her.

sss

Rudy opened up his eyes slowly, his vision blurred and darkened. He struggled to blink, but he was just so tired... How long had he been out, anyway? How long had he been laying on this couch? And just where was Terry? Wasn't she with him earlier?

Rudy sat himself up a little, slinging his arm over the couch's edge and leaned against it. He took in a few slow breaths as he struggled to wake up. The burning sensation clawed around his eyes, making it hard for him to keep them open. But he had to try. He didn't want to go back to sleep. He must have slept for hours. It must be...

Well it didn't really matter right now if it was the afternoon or night or what. He just didn't want to go back to sleep right now. He wanted to... Actually he didn't really know what he wanted. He was in such a confused state, his mind feeling as though it was clouding up with random thoughts and feelings. A side effect from sleeping so long, no doubt. Putting his hand on his forehead and groaning, he began to look around the place, trying to see if he could find any sign of those two.

There was no one else here. Just darkness with the lights out, along with whatever else was in the living room as before. The only change was the glass sitting on the coffee table that he had drunk from. He looked at it intently, licking his lips slowly. He was starting to get a little thirsty right now. Maybe he could...

But didn't Vinnie and Terry tell him specifically not to go into the kitchen for anything? They said this because they didn't want him getting hurt. But..he would be fine, right? He was just going to get a glass of water. That was all. Not like he was going to hurt himself doing that.

But he couldn't help but recall the last time he had tried to get something for himself. It happened a couple weeks ago. He had tried to get into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. He didn't get far before his leg faultered on him and he ended up falling to the ground. He remembered the screams quiet well. It wasn't as bad as, say, that one time when he had to be given pain medication and passed out. But it was not a pleasant experience.

He rcalled how angry those two were with him. They told him that he could have really hurt himself more if he had kept trying to do something like that. They told him to remain put, to just lay on the couch and let them handle things.

And he had obligued. He didn't see much of a reason not to trust them. And he knew that they were right. He was not in a great enough condition to be moving around like that. He should have been more patient and just waited. He should have watched himself better. He could have avoided that whole incident.

...but that was a while back, wasn't it? His leg wasn't hurting him as much now. He still shook with a fever and he could still feel that headache spreading throughout his skull. But his leg was not as painful as it used to be, and he could bear more weight on it for longer. Maybe he would be able to succeed now? Maybe he'd stand a better chance? There was only one way he could find out, and that was to just...take the chance.

And who knows? Maybe if he succeeded and if Vinnie and Terry saw that he was doing better, they could try harder to help him get back to his family. Maybe even escort him through ChalkZone this time. And then his friends...

He froze at the thought of his friends, feeling his heart twist up inside of his chest. Gritting his teeth, he looked towards the ground, placing a hand to his chest, feeling his heart race against it. A strong jolt of emotion shot through his body. It was so painful that it took a lot of will power for him to keep himself quiet.

His friends... He wondered how they felt about him right now. He wondered if they would ever forgive him for...what he had to do. He didn't want to do it. He really didn't... But he couldn't... there was no way that.. He just couldn't think of any other way out of that situation.

Those two would have tried to stop him. They wouldn't have tried to understand. They would just tell him he was being fooled or something. Not that he could blame them, but still, they hadn't really seen just how nice Vinnie and Terry had been to him. They didn't see all that they had done for him. They wouldn't really know much of what was going on. They had no way of knowing. They just...

He didn't know where Vinnie and Terry put them. Likely with Rapsheeba he would imagine. At least until they would speak to him more about what to do with them. He wanted to talk to Terry earlier. She had attempted to speak to him. But all he could do was just...cry. Even now, he still wanted to, even if he had gained some control over himself. Terry didn't try to push him too much and she just sat there with him, gently stroking his hair. It was...quite soothing, honestly.

But that didn't hide the fact that they had a situation going on. That didn't disguise the fact that, with Penny and Snap here, things had gotten a lot more complicated and confusing. Would they be able to sort out this mess soon? He hoped so. He...He didn't want his friends to be so confused for long.

Rudy gripped his head and rubbed it carefully. He did start to feel like the headache was getting a little stronger, and more... He wasn't really sure of what the word was. But all that was going on... It wasn't sitting well with this fever. He was having a tough time trying to figure out just what he was supposed to do, or what he should think. Ugh... Maybe he should lay down before his head exploded or something. This stupid fever... He wished it would go away. It's been nothing but...

Yeah he should at least get some water so he could take more medication. There was a small bottle on the table next to the glass. He reached over and shook it a little to make sure that it wasn't yet empty. After he was able to confirm that there were still a few pills inside, he turned his head and he looked over at where the kitchen was. It wouldn't really be all that easy to take these pills with no water and he had none with him now, so...

Rudy growled softly to himself, shaking his head once. What was he doing, wasting time just standing around here? The water wasn't going to carry itself over to him, and he wasn't going to be gone that long anyway. Grunting softly, he pushed himself up from the couch and steadied himself on his feet. He wobbled a little bit as he felt some pain shooting up through his still healing leg. He struggled to keep himself from falling down. Once he was able to steady himself, he began to walk towards the kitchen.

He walked over slowly and steadily, not wanting to trip up or anything. The kitchen wasn't that far, thankfully. It wouldn't take that long to get there. He just had to keep moving forward, doing whatever he could to avoid hurting himself more. He could still feel the pain and he gritted his teeth tightly. He could do this. He just had to keep moving forward. He...

He hissed as he placed his hand against the wall of the kitchen's entrance. At least he made it, but oh boy, he had relax for a moment. He could feel his legs wobbling and shaking. He could feel sweat pouring down his face. He had exerted more effort than he thought he would have to. Maybe he was a bit too nervous? Yeah that was it. He needed to calm himself down a little further, so that he could...

Shaking his head yet again, Rudy tried to keep his rapidly moving thoughts under control. That darn fever was messing with him yet again. If he wasn't careful, he could pass out here and... Oh he didn't want to worry Terry or Vinnie again... Taking in a few breaths to re-energize himself, he pressed on. At least he was now in the kitchen.

Rudy walked, no, limped his way over to where the sink was. Once he was there, he reached up and he opened up one of the cupboards. To his luck, this was the one with the cups. Licking his lips slightly, he raised his arm up, pushing himself forward, and grabbed onto one of the glasses. He seethed and tried to ignore the pain in his leg as he got a good grip on the cup and brought it down. He held it in his hand for a moment before he reached over to the sink, placed the glass underneath it, and switched it on.

As Rudy allowed the glass to fill up, he took a brief moment to look around the kitchen. So this was what the kitchen looked like? Pretty nice. He didn't know that log cabins had kitchens this nice before. Well in ChalkZone, yes. But here? Not really. His eyes soon settled on the fridge. He felt a small growl in his stomach and he licked his lips. Perhaps there was something good to eat there?

After the glass was filled about seventy percent with water, he began to make his way over towards the refrigerator. He stopped about a foot away and then he reached up with his hand and grabbed the handle. With a single, hard yank, he pulled it open.

Rudy had a twinkle in his eye as he saw how much food was in here. There was quite a bit to choose from. His rumbling stomach desperately wanted him to grab whatever he could and start to eat it. And Rudy just...

...wait a minute.. Something wasn't right here...

Didn't Vinnie and Terry tell him they couldn't go out and get much stuff? Or rather, anything. They were snowed in. At least...he was certain that's what they said. Yeah that was right. But if that's the case..then why...

Rudy narrowed his eyes a tad as he stared at what was before him. Then he reached up and opened up the freezer. It, too, was filled with various food. But all it did was make him clench his teeth tightly. If Vinnie and Terry couldn't go out to get any food, then how did... How did this stuff get here...?

He was so sure that they had told him they didn't have most of this. He thought they were out of milk, out of eggs, out of frozen chicken.. Yet there seemed to be enough of that in here. And didn't they say that they had no pork? Why was there a whole stack of porkchops here?

Rudy took a few steps back from the refrigerator, his mind swirling rapidly. He struggled to keep himself from getting too worked up over this. This...This didn't mean anything. He was just...misunderstanding something here. He wasn't looking at this stuff right. Maybe he could ask them and...

No, he couldn't do that. They'd find out that he was in the kitchen. Rudy sucked in a sharp breath as he looked down at the glass of water in his hands. He stared at it as his mind grew abuzz with many thoughts.

It wasn't possible, right? It couldn't be true that... Terry and Vinnie couldn't have... This was just all a misunderstanding. It just had to be. There was no way that...

But they had done terrible things before. They hadn't always been so nice to him or his friends. Vinnie had tried to expose ChalkZone for fame and fortune... And there was Terry, who had captured his friend to show him off on television, and she had also...

Rudy suddenly felt a sharp sting in his heart and he gripped his hand to his chest. He seethed through his clenched teeth as his mind swirled about, memories flashing over throughout his mind. He could see it all. He could see what had happened. He could, in his mind, how Terry had tried to use him...and how she had shot him in the heart and...

But that was in the past, wasn't it? He shook his head, trying to get those nasty feelings out of his mind. He couldn't let the past judge how he felt about Terry now. After all, she did try to help him and she had been pretty nice to him, as well as Vinnie. They weren't going to... Were they...?

His head ached as a dizziness spread throughout it. He nearly dropped down onto the ground, almost letting go of the glass in the progress. He leaned up against the nearest chair behind him, taking in nervous gulps of breath. He just..had no idea what to think about this whole thing. He didn't know what he should do. He just...

He needed to lie down. He would feel better after he took his medicine and just laid down, right? Yeah that would be nice. Licking his lips slowly, Rudy began to walk back into the living room.

Slowly, he sat himself back down onto the couch. He leaned himself back against it, feeling the softness against his shivering back. Wait, shivering..? Was he really..? Rudy gave a quick small smile to himself and shook his head back and forth. He was really getting worked up over this, wasn't he? He just needed to relax and...

"Rudy?"

The boy nearly dropped the glass to the ground, his hands slipping over it to keep it from falling down. He turned his head and he felt a strange sensation when he saw that it was Terry. She stood on the other side of the living room, her eyes wide in shock at what she was seeing.

"Are you okay? You look..." Terry's voice trailed off when she noticed something that the child was holding. "A glass of water...? How did you..." Her eyes widened slightly. "...you went into the kitchen, didn't you...?"

Rudy gulped and nodded his head once. "Y-Yeah... I just... I was feeling sicker than usual and..." He looked down at the glass, biting his lip. "I just wanted to get water. Th-That's all I did. Some water and came back out here..."

Terry just narrowed her eyes at him. "You do realize that you could have hurt yourself, right?" She folded her arms against her chest. "You are in no condition to be moving around too much."

Rudy turned his head away. "I'm sure I'm not doing myself any favors by sitting around, though..."

Terry gave out a sigh at this. She placed her hand to her forehead and shook it. "Yeah, you do got a point there, kid. I mean..." Terry sighed again and lifted her head to look at him. The two stared at each other awkwardly for several seconds before she spoke again. "Well at least you're not hurt."

"Yeah." Rudy nodded his head. "There is that." He grabbed onto the medicine bottle. "If you don't mind, I should really be taking these. My headaches are getting worse and..."

"Wait." Terry said as she raised up her hand quickly. Rudy looked up at her in confusion. Terry walked over towards the couch. She lowered herself down next to Rudy. "There's something that I want to talk to you about."

Rudy could feel the couch shift from Terry sitting down. He scooted himself over a little to make room for her. "Oh? What did you want to talk to me about?"

"There's something important I need to discuss. I think it's best to get this out of the way now instead of later. Waiting would only make things more complicated, don't you think?" Terry lifted up an arm and she moved it around Rudy, holding him against her. "What do you say? Think you can spare a chat?"

Rudy felt a quick shudder go through his body, but he struggled to keep a straight face. Smiling shakingly, he swallowed nervously and nodded his head. "Y-Yeah... sure..."

Terry smiled at this. "Good. Now keep still. It'll be a bit of a long chat. I will try to make it quick."

Rudy remained silent as Terry proceeded to speak.

sss

"I have to try to find him... I can't just it around and do nothing!" Mrs. Tabootie wailed. She paced back and forth frantically, her chest inflating and deflating swiftly. "If I don't try something at least, I..."

"Dear, the police are doing all that they can. Please just...sit down or something." Mr. Tabootie said as he watched her nervously, his eyes trailing as she continued to pace back and forth. "You're only going to get yourself more worked up and..."

Mrs. Tabootie stopped and whirled her head over towards him, causing the man to freeze in his sentence. "And what am I supposed to do? Just stand around here and wait by the phone like some kind of obedient dog just for..." She stopped, putting her hand to her face and seething. "This just doesn't seem right, you know? Just standing around and doing nothing..."

The man bit his lip a little. "I know, dear. But there isn't much else that we can do." He reached over, as if attempting to grab her and pull her back. "Please just...sit down here and try to relax."

Mrs. Tabootie narrowed her eyes at this. "Relax? How can I relax when our son is..." She stopped for a moment, pressing her fingernails into her skin. "Ugh... I just..."

"Dear..."

Mrs. Sanchez watched this from a distance, feeling her chest twist and tighten up. She felt her heart sting with the greatest of sympathies. It was never easy dealing with this kind of situation. She never had to experience it herself, but she knew people who had and it was just... one of the most horrible things she could imagine happening to a parent.

She had tried her best to cheer up Mrs. Tabootie. That was why she had come over in the first place. She wanted to help settle her down. Talk to her, soothe her nerves. She had been able to do this before without too much difficulty. It was always nice to be with a friend during times like this, and Mrs. Tabootie did appreciate her company.

But now her visits seemed to be working less and less. The large woman had been fine for a time, but lately, she's just been getting more and more antsy. It was to the point where it didn't seem like any of her comforting words would be enough anymore. Mrs. Tabootie was at that point where she actually wanted to do something, not just sit around and wait for something to come their way.

She couldn't really fault her, either. Rudy had been missing for, what, two months now? And the police still hadn't found anything? She understood why Mrs. Tabootie would be furious at this point. She would be too, if she were in the same situation. It made her wonder if the police were even doing their job, or if they were just saying they were looking for Rudy just to keep Mrs. Tabootie off their back. Well if they don't do something quick, they...

"Dear, they will find him soon, don't worry..." Mr. Tabootie whispered as he held his wife close to him. He put his arms around her and held her securely to him, rubbing his hands up and down her back. "Shh..it's going to be okay. I promise..."

Mrs. Tabootie squirmed a little in his grasp. "That's what you said before and they didn't..." But her attempts to escape were quite meek at best and she ended up just collapsing against him completely. She buried her head against his chest and started to cry a little harder. "It just isn't fair.." She hiccuped once. "H-He's so young... He couldn't have just disappeared... He just couldn't..."

Mr. Tabootie furrowed his eyes in concern, licking his lips slowly. He rested his chin on top of her head, keeping his arms firmly around her. "I know, dear. I know..." He shushed her again gently as he continued to whisper soft, comforting words to her. "It's going to be okay..."

Mrs. Sanchez wished that she could say something, anything. She wanted to help calm Mrs. Tabootie down, to give her some kind of spark of hope. But nothing would come to her mind. All she could do was just watch the scene play out before her, a sad expression on her face.

She wondered how Rudy could be doing, wherever he was. Like the Tabooties, she wanted to believe that Rudy was at least alive. She didn't want to think that the little child had been so easily... She couldn't even bring herself to think about that final word in that sentence. She seethed through her clenched teeth and took a small step back. She felt a sting in her chest as she started to realize how useless she was just standing here, doing nothing.

But this moment was meant for just these two. She didn't think she could calm down Mrs. Tabootie. This was a job for Mr. Tabootie. It was best if she hung back and let the couple be. She would remain on stand by just in case, though. It wasn't like she had to be back at her home yet or anything. She had a little bit of time.

Just then, she could feel something vibrating in her pocket. She quickly realized that it was her cellphone and she immediately reached in and she pulled it out. She flipped it open and she pressed it against her ear. "Hello, Mrs. Sanchez speaking." She said immediately.

"Hello, this is Principal Stringent from the school. I am calling regarding your daughter, Penny Sanchez."

At this, Mrs. Sanchez immediately felt her body stiffen up. A cold icy sensation rushed through her body and she struggled not to let herself throw up. It took her a little while before she could get settled again. Once she swallowed her bile, she managed to say, "O-Oh..? What's with Penny...? Is she having trouble in school or..."

"She's not here. She hasn't reported to her class after lunch." Principal Stringent had a tone of concern to her voice. "I was wondering if you had come picked her up early and you just forgot to inform us or..."

Mrs. Sanchez was trying her best not to panic. She tried to keep herself calm and collected. But tried as she might, she just could not relax completely. All she could do was just stand there, frozen solid, as though someone had used an ice spreay on her. She could feel Mr. and Mrs. Tabootie staring at her, their worried eyes boring through her body. Yet she still could not bring herself to look at them.

Feeling her heart pounding furiously against her chest, the woman licked her lips slowly. She could feel her fingertips and chest starting to burn and her vision blurred slightly. She felt a wave of dizziness come over her and it took her all of her strength not to collapse to the ground below.

Just what was going on...?

Her hand shaking so much that she thought the phone was going to drop, Mrs. Sanchez asked tentatively, "A-Are you sure? H-Have you checked everywhere...?"

"We have. She is nowhere to be found." Replied Principal Stringent. "Is she with you or not?"

Mrs. Sanchez nearly lurched forward to vomit. She wiped her mouth carefully as a bit of drool dribbled down her mouth. She said the only thing that could come to her mind.

"No...she isn't..."

In that moment, Mrs. Sanchez felt her world come crashing down.


End file.
